In a move that may yield major dividends for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Karnataka assembly election, that is likely to be announced next Monday or immediately thereafter, the Basavaraj Bommai-led government has significantly modified the state’s reservation policy.
It has increased the quota for the politically dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities, provided internal reservation for the people belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, and moved the Muslims out of a separate quota and added them to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category.
The order comes following a decades-old demand by the SCs for internal reservation, and more importantly, by the Panchamsalis, a powerful sect among the Lingayats, the main support base of the saffron party. However, the government refrained from acceding to the demand of the Panchamsalis for a separate category of reservation. It only increased the quota for the entire Lingayat community.
The key policy change, taken at the last meeting of the state cabinet, is likely to boost the electoral prospects of the ruling party, whose chances were not seen to be bright so far.
The Panchamsalis held a meeting on March 25 to take a stand on the issue, but going by last night’s reaction of Basava Mrityunjaya swamiji, who led the agitation on the sect’s demand, it appears they would accept the decision.
The more than two-year-long agitation across the state and their 70-day long hunger strike in Bengaluru had the potential of weaning away the voters from the BJP. The Panchamsalis had even threatened to bring down the BJP government if their demand was not met. They had earlier demanded that they be included under the 2(a) category which carries 15% reservation.
The Lingayat votes, many poll pundits believed, may shift to the Congress, a party they deserted in the 1990s, following the unceremonious removal from the chief ministership of an ill Lingayat leader, Veerendra Patil, through a statement at the Bengaluru airport made by then Prime Minister and Congress president Rajiv Gandhi. However, the decision taken on March 24, which is being counted as a masterstroke by the Bommai government, may halt this from happening.
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The quotas
The Lingayats, whose quota has now been increased from 5% to 7%, account for around 17% of the state’s population. Karnataka’s other powerful community, the Vokkaligas, had also demanded an increase in their quota significantly, but it has increased by 1% – from 4% to 6%.
The government had increased the quota of SCs from a total of 18% to 24%.
While reactions are still coming, the SCs celebrated the decision soon after it was announced Friday night.
The Dalits can be categorised as the left section (who identify themselves with former Deputy Prime Minister Jagjivam Ram) and the right section (followers of B.R. Ambedkar and Buddhism) in Karnataka. They are divided in their political allegiance. While the entire community was supporting the Congress earlier, in the last two decades, the left section has leaned increasingly towards the BJP.
The two wings are generally seen as rivals. A few months ago, the Bommai government had increased the quota for the SCs and Scheduled Tribes from a total of 17% to 24%.
One major decision the cabinet took relates to the Muslims, by no means the vote base of the BJP. The government removed them from the 2B category, in which they used to get 4% reservation, to EWS where they share 10% with six castes and communities, such as Brahmins and Jains.
Muslim leaders have already expressed their ire against this move. A section of the Muslims do come under category 1 and 2A of the quota list. Bommai’s defence for this move was that the courts were against the reservation for Muslims and Ambedkar himself did not favour quota for this minority group.
Trying to appease the other numerically significant caste, the Kurubas (shepherds), Bommai said that a study was underway to check if they deserve to be brought under the ST category. Incidentally, Congress leader Siddaramaiah is the tallest leader from this caste group.
B.S. Arun is a senior journalist based in Bengaluru.