Siddaramaiah creates flutter with 75% reservation assurance

With less than a fortnight to go for the Assembly polls, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah has created a political flutter by promising to raise the reservation ceiling from 50 per cent to 75 per cent.

First, Siddaramaiah said Congress will increase reservation for all communities based on their population. Later, however, he just said reservation will be provided to “all the deserving castes”.

Siddaramaiah’s reservation promise is seen as a counter to the BJP’s campaign that the scrapping of 4 per cent quota for Muslims was necessary to provide social justice to other OBCs.

On Thursday, union minister Shobha Karandlaje hit back at Siddaramaiah questioning the practicality of his promise. “Where from will Siddaramaiah provide 75 per cent reservation? As per norms, reservation cannot exceed 50 per cent. He’s fooling the people of this state. He is making such statements because he knows that he will never have to implement it as his party will not come to power in Karnataka,” she said.

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Siddaramiah was to quick to retort with a tweet: “If Shobha thinks that the reservation cannot be increased beyond 50 per cent, how did they increase the reservation for SCs and STs? The whole process is BJP’s election gimmick! BJP has no intention of actually increasing reservation for SC/STs.”

According to Congress leaders, the party wants to drive home its commitment to social justice. “Hike in reservation is not an election issue to Congress. Reservation is part of our ideology for social justice. It is the BJP which has turned this into an election gimmick,” Congress spokesperson Ramesh Babu said.

Recently, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked PM Modi to do away with the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation while also demanding the government to release the findings of a 2011 caste census.

Siddaramaiah’s announcement has also sparked off a debate on the larger issue of reservation in the state.

Speaking to DH, Supreme Court advocate K V Dhananjay condemned the move by political parties to announce reservation hikes with elections in mind. “Siddaramaiah knows that reservation cannot be expandable without quantifiable data. If there was any quantifiable data, it was in the form of caste census and this was shelved,” he said.

Lingayat seer Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swamy, who has been in the forefront demanding an increase in reservation for the community, sought to give the issue more time for clarity. “We will wait for the Supreme Court to take a call on the government’s decision,” he said.