BENGALURU: The failure to handle the Panchamasali Lingayat community’s stir demanding the 2A tag, that resulted in violence, including stone throwing and police ‘lathicharge’ on protesters in Belagavi, is likely to have its own ramifications on the ruling Congress government, as part of North Karnataka is engulfed in protests.
Rubbing salt on the wound, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday stated that the community seeking the 2A tag is “unconstitutional”, while Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara defended the “mild lathicharge” as the protesters had taken the law into their hands.
But Panchamasali Lingayat religious head Sri Jayamruthyunjaya Swami, who had led the protest, hit back at Parameshwara, saying he had not violated the law. “We felt that Parameshwara, a devotee of Siddaganga Mutt (near Tumakuru) was pro-Lingayat, which was why he won the Koratagere seat with the backing of the community. But Lingayats will now repent and teach him a lesson,” he said.
“Being a Kuruba community icon, Siddaramaiah is unlikely to include Panchamasali Lingayats that will disturb the backward classes. In fact, he had sent a proposal to the Centre to include Kurubas in the ST category. He knew that without constitutional intervention, it is not possible to reallocate quota,” observed political analysts.
On Wednesday, backward classes federation leaders threw their weight behind Siddaramaiah. They insisted that the 2A tag should not be given to Panchamasali Lingayats as it will affect the prospects of backward classes, including Kurubas, who are also in the 2A quota.
The previous Basavaraj Bommai government had scrapped 4 per cent quota for ‘backward’ Muslims under 2B, and shared 2 per cent each among Vokkaligas (3A) and Lingayats (3B) by creating 2C and 2D. But Muslims moved the Supreme Court, which ordered the government to maintain status quo. Following the order, the Bommai government had filed an affidavit in the SC to this effect.
Sources said Siddaramaiah wanted to explain this, and had asked Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar to hold a meeting of stakeholders, including the swamiji, to assuage the protesting community.
In 2013, the lathicharge on the SC left community demanding classification of SC quota at Suvarna Vikasa Soudha in Belagavi, was a factor in the BJP’s debacle in the assembly polls. A similar situation now could backfire on the Congress in future elections, say analysts.
“This incident should not have happened, and it’s now taking a political twist,” admitted a Congress leader from the Panchamasali Lingayat community.
