JOIN USQuota quagmire: Karnataka CM Bommai to visit Delhi for top brass talks
"Desperate times require desperate measures." This adage seems appropriate for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai who, with just a few months left for the elections, is figuring a way out of the reservation quagmire.
Bommai’s predicament is comparable to that of Congress’ Siddaramaiah who, as chief minister, took the risk of recommending to the Centre that Lingayats should be given ‘religious minority’ status, a move that is widely believed to have backfired.
This time, Panchamasali Lingayats are mounting pressure on Bommai to put them under Category 2A from Category 3B. Then, there is pressure to implement internal quotas for SC/STs. Also, Vokkaligas in the BJP have stepped up pressure on Bommai to hike their quota from 4 per cent to 12 per cent.
Bommai has to first ensure legal protection to his government’s decision of hiking SC/ST quota, which has taken the total reservation in Karnataka to 56 per cent, exceeding the 50 per cent cap.
Bommai is heading to New Delhi on Monday to meet BJP’s central leadership amid speculation that the top brass is worried about the party getting caught on the wrong side of the reservation issue. The chief minister’s office, however, rejected talk that Bommai had been “summoned” by the high command. “He had sought an appointment, and he got one,” according to the CMO.
Sources said Bommai is expected to discuss reservation with the BJP top brass. He is also likely to push for the expansion of his Cabinet -- there are six vacancies with senior lawmakers KS Eshwarappa, Ramesh Jarkiholi and others waiting to become ministers.
The Panchamasalis have a 5 per cent quota in Category 3B. They want to be put under Category 2A that already has 102 castes such as Kurubas and Idigas sharing 15 per cent reservation, and there is resistance to having Panchamasalis in their basket.
The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes has reportedly asked the government to create a separate reservation category within OBCs for the Panchamasalis.
At present, OBCs have 32 per cent reservation. Speculation is that the government might rejig OBC categories. Ending the 4 per cent Muslim quota to accommodate Panchamasalis is one option suggested by BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal.
There is also talk that the government might look at utilising the 10 per cent EWS quota for Panchamasalis and Vokkaligas.
But doing so would arguably mean that both communities would lose their ‘social backwardness’ tag.
In all this, the Congress is in a Catch-22 situation. “We can neither fully support or oppose these demands,” a Congress MLA said.