BENGALURU: It is a big question as to how the state government’s tampering with the internal reservation, affecting some sections of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, would change the outcome of the Assembly elections.
SC/STs together account for 51 seats in Karnataka, and the recent changes in the reservation matrix could affect the voting pattern. While the SC left groups whose numbers are smaller have been quiet, it is the SC right who are upset and protesting.
Congress leader Dr G Parameshwara said, “I welcome internal reservation, but it should stand the test of legal scrutiny.’’
The state saw the number of reserved seats going up from 37 to 51 after the delimitation process. While the political reservation has come to SC/STs, they are looking for education and employment reservation. The Bhovi, Lambani, Korachar and Korama communities have been upset that their share of the quota would be affected by the recent move and they are the ones protesting. It would be difficult to convince them about the fairness of the decision.
Prakash Rathod, chief whip of Congress in the Council -- who hails from the Lambani community, said, “On what grounds were these internal reservation rules framed, considering that the Sadashiva Commission and Nagamohan Das Commission reports have not been made public?”
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Parameshwara said, “If the government was serious about increasing reservation to certain communities, they should have sent it to Delhi a few months earlier, as soon as it was passed here. Union minister A Narayanaswamy said on March 14 that it had not been sent. Of course, now they will say it has been sent. How will they implement it if they send it now? Is it not just a drama?’’
Chairman of the second National SC and ST Commission and former MP H Hanumanthappa said bluntly, “Is it as per rules? Is reservation just a commodity in the market to be handed over to whoever screams the loudest, or is it as per the whims of any political party? There are oppressed and depressed castes and they have been given reservations because of historical wrongs and this has statutory and constitutional recognition. Is this kind of an order by the government, without a proper public debate on the floor of the house, correct?”
But BJP defended the decision, saying it is just and proper. Amit Malaviya of the saffron party tweeted, “It is a massive push for social justice.”