Revisiting the politics of quota & social justice in Karnataka

The BJP authorities’s choice to hike reservation for SC/STs has opened a Pandora’s Field forward of the 2023 Assembly elections with two main communities – the Panchamasali Lingayats and Vokkaligas – agitating for larger quota.

The Panchamasalis, who’re stated to be the numerically stronger sub-sect of the Lingayats, come beneath class 3B, which has a 5 per cent quota. They wish to be beneath class 2A, wherein they’ll get a share within the 15 per cent reservation.

The Vokkaligas, a dominant neighborhood in southern Karnataka, comes beneath Class 3A with a 4 per cent quota. They need this to be elevated to 12 per cent. 

Each communities determined to up the ante after the BJP authorities hiked reservations for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent. This has taken the reservation tally to 56 per cent, above the 50 per cent quota ceiling fastened by the Supreme Court docket.

In keeping with consultants, the Panchamasali Lingayats and Vokkaligas have the may to determine the destiny of an election. Whereas Lingayats are seen because the BJP’s help base, the saffron get together is trying to woo the Vokkaligas who name the pictures within the previous Mysuru area.  The Panchamasalis have set a December 19 deadline for the federal government to behave on their demand. Equally, the Vokkaligas will wait till January 23 for the federal government’s phrase. Each communities have threatened to hit the streets if their calls for are unmet. 

Political analyst Ravindra Reshme calls this “social justice politics” that Karnataka has seen since 1976. “On one hand, we see the resurgence of communal politics and on the opposite, we see populist politics with dominating communities demanding reservation,” he says. 

In keeping with Reshme, in 1976, then chief minister D Devaraj Urs took the chance of implementing the Havanur fee report for reservation of OBCs regardless of an impending Lok Sabha election. “The OBC checklist excluded Lingayats, however had Vokkaligas and different small communities. This led to protests by Lingayats who even moved court docket. The Supreme Court docket upheld the Havanur report and a Structure bench stated depravations of poverty are aggravated by the consideration of castes,” he recollects. 

In 1984, the Ramakrishna Hegde authorities appointed T Venkataswamy fee that ready a special checklist wherein each Vokkaligas and Lingayats weren’t thought of in toto, Reshme says. “Each the dominant communities felt offended and opposed it. As they have been the spine of the Hegde authorities, he determined to reject the Venkataswamy Fee report,” Reshme says. 

Specialists additionally recalled how the Vokkaligas have been enraged earlier than the 1994 Meeting elections because the Veerappa Moily authorities had issued an order primarily based on the Chinnappa Reddy Fee report that excluded the Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Catholic Christians, Ganigas and Devangas. JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda led a rally together with Adichunchunagiri Mutt’s pontiff the late Balagangadharanatha Swami in opposition to the report. 

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s calculated transfer to hike SC/ST quota has a watch on the votes of those communities. There may be hypothesis that he would make a coverage announcement acceding to the calls for by the Panchamasalis and Vokkaligas simply earlier than the Meeting elections subsequent 12 months. 

Former Karnataka State Fee for Backward Lessons chairperson C S Dwarakanath frowns that the 2 dominant communities are making your entire reservation system irrelevant. “Searching for reservation has turn out to be like a sweet-meat stall,” he says. “On what foundation are they demanding reservation? And, on what foundation will the federal government determine? There’s no scientific foundation these two communities should demand reservation. Why are they agitating when 4-5 months are left for elections? What have been they doing for the final 4-5 years?” he asks. 

The dominant Kurubas have their very own demand to be put beneath the ST checklist. There are different communities which have put forth reservation-related calls for – Idiga, Balijas, Vishwakarmas and so forth.