I think the caste factor won’t go away any time soon because it cuts both ways. People know that voting as a caste (as opposed to voting as discrete individuals) will mean that their vote automatically has more value and therefore attract more attention from politicians courting favour. The “Lingayat Vote” or the “Vokkaliga vote” or the “Kuruba vote” as the case may be, will continue to be a factor, but not the sole one in Karnataka politics.

That said, caste politics seem to have played itself out in South Karnataka as can be seen from the demise of the Janata Dal (Secular). The “pro-farmer” tilt the party claimed was always a sly way of saying “for, by and of Vokkaligas”. But caste identity alone got them nowhere as they were unable to deliver on real development or a corruption free government, and like the DMK, made the party and the family one. This could happen in North Karnataka with the BJP as well if they are unable to deliver “tangibles” (as they say in the software world) to their Lingayat base.