Bengaluru civic polls: Commission constituted by BJP govt recommends 33% OBC quota

The Bhakthavatsala Commission has referred to data for urban and local body elections held in 1996, 2001, 2010 and 2015 to conclude that a large number of castes and communities “who come under the Category A and B of Other Backward Classes are still socially and politically backward” and that “providing reservation of 1/3rd (33%)” is necessary.

The commission has recommended 33 per cent reservation in the forthcoming urban and local body polls for OBCs and “to consider providing reservation of office of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor in BBMP in favour of persons belonging to Other Backward Classes”.

In June this year, the Karnataka government promulgated an ordinance to facilitate the reservation of one-third of the seats in the BBMP council for OBC candidates in order to facilitate the conduct of local polls for the Bengaluru city council that have been pending since August 2020.

The issue of reservations for OBCs in local body polls has become a source of controversy in many states with the Supreme Court, in a series of recent orders, mandating OBC reservations only on the basis of new scientific data. The apex court has also said that polls must be held soon for all local bodies whose five-year terms have ended.

Maharashtra recently conducted local polls without reservation, while Madhya Pradesh convinced the court for polls with existing reservation norms. Karnataka had sought time to come up with scientific data for reservations through the Justice Bhakthavatsala Commission to hold local polls that are overdue by nearly two years in Bengaluru and by over a year in taluks and zila panchayats.

The Opposition Congress in Karnataka has said that the local polls that are delayed should not be held without OBC reservations. The ruling BJP has also stated that it would not like to hold the local polls in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka without OBC reservations. “Our view is that the election must not be held without reservations for OBCs because it will be a big injustice to backward communities. It will be a denial of political opportunities. This is why we carried out reservations for local bodies in 1994-95,” former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said recently.

The Karnataka government told the Supreme Court on May 20 that it would complete the process of ward delimitation and reservation of wards for OBCs within eight weeks in order to hold the pending BBMP elections. Chief minister Bommai indicated this week that the government would report to the apex court on July 22 regarding its readiness to hold the Bengaluru city civic polls.