| A+A A- It suddenly appears that there is a lot of activity quietly happening around caste, more so in the southern states. This statement may be contested by the discerning, who may quite rightly ask, as to when had activity around caste in any part of India ever ceased or abated? True, but let’s look at the activity, gauge the rush and then conjecture what provokes the movement. In Karnataka, B S Yediyurappa has been put to test by the largest sub-caste among his own Lingayat community. The Panchamasalis held a huge demonstration before the close of February and demanded that they be put under the 2A category of reservation in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list. A couple of weeks before them, one of the largest OBC communities in the state, the Kurubas, decided that they should intensify their demand to put the community under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah comes from this community, but he has been wary of this demand. However, the mobilisation worked out by his rivals in the community has left him somewhat isolated, as much as Yediyurappa feels cornered within his own community. The fundamental asset of these two leaders has been their caste identity politics.