‘Congress working to divide religion’: Nischalananda Swami on Karnataka caste census

BENGALURU: Nischalananda Swami of the Vishwa Vokkaliga Mahasansthan Math on Friday made a serious allegation against the Siddaramaiah government, asserting that the Congress is working to “divide religion” in the name of caste census.

The seer questioned the ongoing socio-educational economic survey being conducted under the direction of the state government and the Backwards Classes Commission. Swami Nischalananda said, “In the present situation, we are also thinking like that, common people are also thinking like that, why government has mentioned backward class commission, Lingayat Christian, Vokkaliga Christian, Kuruba Christian, like that. I think it is not required while getting the information regarding the caste. Only caste is enough for the government to give constitutional facilities and privileges to the deprived communities”.

#WATCH | Tumkur, Karnataka: On the use of the term ‘Christian’ by the State Government, Sri Nischalananda Swamiji, Vishwa Vokkaligara Mahasamsthan Math, says, “As per the recent direction of the government of Karnataka and the Backwards Class Commission, Karnataka, they are going… pic.twitter.com/WRAI2GhxAQ

— ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2025

He alleged that the government was taking “misleading” steps by introducing divisions such as Vokkaliga Christians and Muslim Christians, which he believed were “not appropriate”. He appealed to the community to write their identity in a clear manner. “All communities should participate in this survey because all the schemes provided by the government constitutionally will be helpful in getting facilities. All communities should first write Hindu, then their caste and then the sub-castes”.

Nischalananda swamiji further pointed out that records already showed ‘Vokkaliga Christians’ are written as Vokkaliga, Muslim Christians”. He opposed this categorisation and said, “I personally oppose this. The government itself is doing misleading work. An appropriate decision should be taken immediately in this matter. In the current situation, it is not appropriate to say Vokkaliga Christians as Vokkaliga, Muslim Christians”.

On September 16, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra criticised the state government for conducting a caste census despite ‘constitutional and legal restrictions’. Vijayendra said that the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government is proceeding with caste enumeration under the guise of a survey and called it “a conspiracy and a malicious plot”.

Speaking at a meeting, Vijayendra pointed out the categories listed in the census — Hindu, Islam, Christian, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Atheist, and Others. He argued that the ‘Others’ category itself is unconstitutional.

On September 12, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a significant caste survey initiative aimed at understanding the socio-educational status of the state’s population. The survey, led by Madhusudan Naik, Chairman of the Backwards Classes (BC) Commission, along with five members, will cover approximately seven crore people. The Madhusudan Commission survey is scheduled to be completed between September 22 and October 7, 2025. (ANI)