BENGALURU: Scores of small and microscopic communities don’t have a single elected member in the Assembly or Lok Sabha. That is because their numbers are minuscule. But SC/STs, who have nearly 1.5 crore voters across the state, hesitate to contest from unreserved constituencies and pick seats that are reserved for them — 35 for SCs and 15 for STs — as they fear venturing out of their comfort zones.
But there are exceptions. Congress General Secretary BP Maurya (late) dared to contest from a general seat and won, while K Chandrashekar, an SC, successfully contested from Basavanagudi. Late
KH Ranganath, an SC, won from Chitradurga, Ramesh Jarkiholi, an ST, romped home from Gokak and KN Rajanna, an ST, represented a non-reserved seat.
Trying to explain the phenomenon, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B Somashekar, who was a minister and won four times from a reserved constituency, said, “While it is true that many lack the courage to contest from unreserved constituencies, it is also a fact that parties do not give them tickets as they lack the money or muscle power to win elections. The reason is also that Dalits have 101 sub-sects and they are not united. Some parties prefer ‘touchable’ SCs like Bhovis and Lambanis, rather than untouchables. These touchables are socially with the upper castes.”
Former deputy chief minister and Congress senior leader G Parameshwar, who has been winning from the reserved Koratgere constituency for long, said, “People’s mindset should change. They need to become more progressive. I had almost decided to contest from the Tumkur Parliament seat in 2008 and 2018, but could not due to many reasons.”
Experts pointed out that each constituency has at least 10,000 SC/STs, while in over 50 seats, the numbers are around 40,000 to 50,000.
“Even then, they hesitate to contest from general seats. That could be because they are paralysed by the fear of losing. At the same time, leaders, whose communities constitute just 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of the population, have been contesting and winning elections,” they added.
Karnataka will go to polls early next year.