MYSURU: With the Lok Sabha passing the Constitution 127th Amendment Bill to restore the states' power to make their own lists of OBCs, Congress leader Siddaramaiah has said that the BJP and RSS' approach on reservation has changed after the introduction of 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections among upper castes.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said that the BJP has stopped speaking against quota as they have also benefited from introducing the 10 per cent reservation, which, he claimed, lacked Constitutional validity.
Stating that the BJP has been in power for more than 12 years under Atal Bihari Vajapyee and Narendra Modi, Siddaramaiah said the party has not shown any interest in conducting a nationwide caste census. The Union Government should exhibit political will and carry out a caste census and pass a Bill to remove the cap on reservation and increase it to 60-70 per cent, he noted.
In the Indira Sawhney case, the Supreme Court had observed that the upper limit can be increased beyond 50 per cent only in certain special circumstances. Siddaramaiah said that the caste census will act as a comparative study between the upper and lower castes, the rich and the poor, and help the government defend its programmes in courts and also decide on future funding of welfare schemes.
"How can the government argue on reservation when the last caste census was conducted in 1931?" he questioned.
As chief minister, Siddaramaiah said he had commissioned a caste census at a cost of Rs 133 crore. "The government, headed by H D Kumaraswamy, refused to accept the report. I urge Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to consider the report and place it before the House. If the Congress returns to power, we will first accept the report and place it before the people for further deliberations," he added.
Recalling that the BJP and RSS were against reservation and even had a hidden agenda of changing the Constitution, Siddaramaiah said that former Governor Rama Jois had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka government's decision to provide reservation to backward classes and women in panchayats. "How can BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde say that they have come to power to change the Constitution? Will it be possible without the consent of the party and their bosses?" he asked.