The delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies has been politically favourable for the scheduled tribes in Karnataka. For the first time in the electoral history of the State two Lok Sabha constituencies have been reserved for ST, Raichur and Bellary, which come under the Gulbarga revenue region.
Karnataka hitherto had only two Assembly constituencies - Virajpet in Kodagu and Gokak in Belgaum district - reserved for ST and in the aftermath of delimitation the number has gone to 15. Out of 15 the maximum number of 10 have been carved out in the Gulbarga region with Bellary alone accounting for five and Raichur four while Gulbarga has one.
The increase in population of scheduled tribes is mainly attributed to the inclusion of Nayak which is also called as Beda/Bedar community in the ST list by the Centre. Raichur, Bellary and Gulbarga which are dominated by the Walmiki Nayaks are the natural beneficiaries of the new electoral set up. As per the 2001 census there are 49 scheduled tribes with different synonyms but the most dominant among them is the Nayak community who worship Maharshi Walmiki, author of Ramayana.
Population
According to the 2001 census there are 34,63,986 STs in the State forming 6.6 per cent of the total population. However they enjoy two Lok Sabha and 15 Assembly seats. Bellary district has the maximum ST population of 3,64,638 followed by Raichur-3,03,042, Bidar-1,82,219, Gulbarga-1,54,195 and Koppal-1,38,588.
In Bellary out of the nine Assembly constituencies as many as five and in Raichur out of seven Assembly seats four have been reserved for STs.
In Gulbarga the only  seat Surapur which has been invariably returning ST in every elections has been reserved for the same for the first time. Interestingly Bidar has more ST population than Gulbarga but no seat has been reserved for them in Bidar.
Out of the nine assembly seats seven have gone to reserved category while only two are open for general category. In Raichur, out of the seven Assembly seats four are reserved- for ST and one for SC.
Scheduled castes
The population of scheduled castes has been increased marginally in the State warranting to increase the number of SC reserved Lok Sabha seats from four to five and Assembly seats from 33 to 36. The inclusion of Lambanis in the SC and their concentration in particular area is said to be the reasons for creating three more SC assembly constituencies. Chincholi taluk, for instance, of Gulbarga district where maximum number of Lambani Tandas are located it has gone to SC. Similarly Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat has been reserved for SC while Bidar becoming general constituency.
Gulbarga region comprising five districts has the distinction of giving adequate political justice with 19 of the 40 Assembly constituencies going to SC/ST’s.