VS Ugrappa .
DH file photo.
Bengaluru: Congress leader VS Ugrappa on Tuesday warned Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about the proposed inclusion of the Kuruba community to the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST), saying: “you can dine with us but don’t snatch food from our plates.”
“Let Kurubas come, Gollas come, Besthas come. While coming, get your plates and rice. You can sit with us and eat. But if you put your hands on our plates, I will stand with the people and fight as their voice. I am ready for that, this is my warning.”
Ugrappa’s tirade came during the Valmiki Jayanti – 2025 programme attended by Siddaramaiah, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi and other Congress leaders. Siddaramaiah is the leading Kuruba leader in the state.His comments come at a time when there has been apprehension in the Nayaka community that the inclusion of the Kuruba community to the ST list will reduce their share in the 7% reservation provided to STs in Karnataka.
Ugrappa explained that Article 341 of the Constitution mandated an anthropological study to determine tribal characteristics if a community has to be added to the ST list.
“If they have tribal characteristics and are socially and educationally backward, they can be recommended not once but 10 times.”Recollecting that both Kurubas and Nayakas had unsuccesfully tried for the ST tag twice, Ugrappa said: "Later Kurubas went into sleep mode. In 1991, when Chandrashekhar was the prime minister, myself and HD Devegowda wrote about the tribal characteristics of Nayakas and the community was added to the ST list.”
In another warning to the chief minister, Ugrappa said: “Power is not permanent, Siddaramaiah. One day you will become a former (CM). Just how D Devaraj Urs, Indira Gandhi have contributed, you should also identify people in all classes who will carry forward your legacy...”‘I didn’t recommend, it was BJP."
Responding to Siddaramaiah said: “We will not put our lands on your plate. I wasn't the one who fought for providing ST tag to Kurubas. It was KS Eshwarappa. At that time, Basavaraj Bommai was the chief minister in the BJP government. Now it has just come for clarification.”
The chief minister explained that the reservation for STs was higher in states such as Orissa, Mizoram and Nagaland in accordance with their population.“They didn't do it then (Union government adding Kurubas to the ST list) and even now there's no confidence they will do it. But if they do it, let it be as per the population. It should be increased from 7% to 14 or 15 or 20%.”
Speaking about the inclusion of Nayakas to the ST list, Siddaramaiah said: “I am happy for you (Nayakas) that you got ST reservation. At that time (1991), Deve Gowda was close to Chandrashekhar and Ugrappa was close to Devegowda. Through Devegowda, he (Ugrappa) convinced Chandrashekhar and got Nayakas added to the ST list. If the community has got the ST tag, it's because of Ugrappa.”