The BJP government in Karnataka has been caught in a cleft stick over its reservation policy thanks to the pressure mounted by various communities for an increase in their quota and the ruling dispensation’s failure to address them to the satisfaction of the aggrieved groups. While the state government, led by Basavaraj Bommai, has on the one hand pacified the SC and STs by increasing their quota, on the other, it has angered many of the powerful communities. Most vociferous of them are the Panchamasalis, a sub-sect of the powerful Lingayat community and the BJP’s core support base. Also on the list of dissatisfied communities are the dominant community of Vokkaligas, and backward classes such as Kurubas, Idigas, Madivalas, etc., who are demanding a hike in their quota.
With elections barely three months away, Bommai and the BJP are under immense stress to positively address the demand of these castes—a Herculean task given the legal complications. It is nearly impossible that any decision would sail past legal scrutiny.
Reservation is the single biggest worry for the BJP, with several communities making their displeasure known for some time. Already seen to be on the backfoot on many issues of governance, the ruling saffron outfit has a huge task of winning back the support of many of the communities and some, like the Panchamasali Lingayats, have openly threatened to bring down the government if their demands are not met.
For now, the Bommai government has got some reprieve as the Karnataka High Court has given a stay to a cabinet decision approved on December 29 which modified its reservation policy. This, instead of assuaging the Panchamasalis, set off protests from the group, the largest block among the Lingayats. Panchamasalis, who hit the streets some two years ago demanding that they be included under Category 2A which carries 15 per cent reservation for 101 backward communities, threatened to intensify their agitation as they held a protest in front of Bommai’s house at Shiggaon in north Karnataka’s Haveri district.
What is the reservation conundrum and what has the government done? The state government recently got into the task of restructuring the quota map in two stages. At first, it increased the quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent thus taking the total reservation to 56 per cent, beyond the Supreme Court stipulated ceiling of 50 per cent. While the SCs had not sought any increase, the STs did—the bigger Valmiki community in the OBC group had demanded an increase in the quota. The SCs, had, in fact, demanded implementation of the Justice Sadashiva Commission report which suggested the re-classification of 101 SC communities into four categories. This has not been addressed by the government. The hike triggered a wave of demands from different castes, where most wanted an increase in their quota and some wanted a change in their category of reservation.
Any increase beyond the court ceiling needs Parliament’s assent so that it is added to the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, taking it beyond judicial review. The state government does not seem to have taken any step in this regard or lobbied with the BJP government at the Centre. This, despite claiming day in and day out that the “double engine” government would be beneficial to the states.
Next, the government took up the difficult task of addressing the demand of the Panchamasalis and Vokkaligas. Last month, it created a new category for Vokkaligas—2C—by doing away with 3A while it placed the Veerashaiva-Lingayats under a new category, 2D, by removing 3B. Their quota remains as before— 4 per cent for Vokkaligas and 5 per cent for Veerashaiva-Lingayats. The government said the quota for the Vokkaligas and Lingayats would be increased by taking out a portion of the EWS quota of 10 per cent currently enjoyed by Brahmins and four other groups.
There is no mention of separate reservation for the Panchamasalis in the revised quota policy; the government also remained silent on their demand for inclusion under 2A. Panchamasalis have rejected the cabinet decision. Category 2A is for the backwards and already has 101 castes accounting for a 15 per cent quota as this also has political reservation. This means that if the government had acceded to the demand, Panchamasalis would have stood to gain hugely by getting hold of the post of president in local bodies across the state. The communities currently getting benefits of 2A have protested against the Panchamasali demand.
Panchamasalis, who are strong in north Karnataka, wield considerable influence in the region. There are around 75 seats out of 224 where Lingayants matter in the state electorally, which is why the BJP is worried about the impact of the Panchamasali agitation led by their seer Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami of the Panchamasali Peetha. That both Bommai and his predecessor B S Yediyurappa are Lingayats is not proving to be helpful here. Lingayats, the biggest caste group, account for some 14 per cent of the five-crore electorate of the state. Of the total 224 sitting MLAs, Lingayats comprise 53 — of them, 35 are from the BJP, 15 are from the Congress and three are from the JD(S). The visible anger among the Panchamasalis, coupled with the recent spat between minister Murugesh Nirani and party MLA Basanagouda Yatnal, not to speak of the perceived sidelining of former CMs Yediyurappa and Jagadish Shettar, also a Lingayat, are seen as indicators of cracks in the BJP citadel and may haunt the party in the polls.
The BJP’s problem is no different when it comes to the demand of the other influential community of Vokkaligas, strong in south Karnataka including the Old Mysore area, where the BJP is struggling to make inroads. Vokkaligas, to which JD(S) strongmen H D Deve Gowda-H D Kumaraswamy belong, are demanding an increase in their quota from 4 per cent to 12 per cent and inclusion of three of its sub-castes in the Central OBC list. BJP, is, of late, focusing more on the Old Mysore region — Home Minister Amit Shah made a dash to the area a fortnight ago and held a meeting with state party leaders on how to improve its chances in the region.
Like these, several communities want their quota increased, an impossible task for the government to concede, something which may go against the BJP in the polls. Thus, every action of the government on the reservation—be it relating to any community—is likely to have an impact on the way voters belonging to those communities react on the day of polling.
B S ARUN
Political analyst based in Bengaluru