MYSURU: BJP MLC AH Vishwanath on Friday urged former chief minister Siddaramaiah to lead the Kuruba community’s struggle for the Scheduled Tribe tag. He denied that the RSS is behind the Kuruba agitation, as alleged by Siddaramaiah, and said that the community is demanding socio, economic and political reservation in the state. The State Government should order an anthropological study on their demand and also recommend it to the Centre, he added.
Vishwanath said that he sacrificed his seniority in the Congress to make Siddaramaiah the chief minister and is ready now to give up his leadership in the Kuruba agitation.“Siddaramaiah has not done much for the community as DyCM, chief minister and opposition party leader. He should not forget that people have funded him by selling their sheep. If he had given his advise and support, the community would have grown manifold,” he added.
He said that Siddaramaiah was not present when the Kagenele Gurupeeta was inaugurated in 1992 and Kanaka Gopura was demolished in Udupi Krishna Mutt. “The setting up of the Mutt strengthened the community. It has never let Siddaramaiah down, while he has used it for increasing his political prospects. He should repay the community by joining the stir,” he added.
Siddaramaiah ordered a socio-economic and caste census while in power, but did follow it up by accepting and publishing the report, giving scope for further debates, he said.He lashed out at the former CM for scrapping the Yeshaswini health insurance scheme for farmers and poor people which affected the common man. He said that the Centre should increase the ST quota on the lines of North-East states and added that he will argue before the National ST Commission to increase reservation, as the Supreme Court has capped it at 49 per cent.
‘KSE, Vishwanath dividing community’
Mysuru: Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah on Friday appealed to Kuruba seer Niranjananandapuri and community members to be wary of the agitation launched by Rural Development Minister K S Eshwarappa and MLC A H Vishwanath demanding an ST tag for Kurubas. Alleging that the stir has the backing of RSS to weaken his leadership and to mislead the community, he alleged that the two leaders are conspiring to divide the community.
Questioning the need for a stir when BJP is in power both at the state and Centre, he said there was no such agitation when he recommended the reservation for a few communities when he was the CM. After conferring the Kankashree award to Vice-Chancellor Hemanth Kumar and journalist Ravindra Bhat here, he said people should follow social reformers like Basavanna and saint Kanakadasa.