Karnataka may opt for new commission to assess OBC numbers, indicates CM Bommai

“A commission would have to be constituted for the purpose. Appropriate measures would be taken in the backdrop of the recent Supreme Court order,” Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai said this week after holding an all-party consultation on the issue of holding local polls that are overdue by over a year.

“We discussed in detail possible measures to provide reservation for Backward Classes and how to conduct the elections in the backdrop of the SC order. The Advocate General explained the legal aspects,” Bommai said after meeting leaders of all parties on the issue on Thursday.

Recent Supreme Court orders have mandated that political reservations can be provided for OBCs in the country only on the basis of empirical data on numbers and backwardness of caste groups.

The most recent Supreme Court order of January 19, 2022, came at a time when polls for 198 seats in the Bengaluru city corporation, 1083 zilla panchayat seats in 30 districts, and 3903 seats in 175 taluk panchayats in Karnataka were overdue by more than a year.

The BJP government had earlier indicated that it is not in favor of conducting local polls on account of the OBC reservation imbroglio. “We are not in favor of conducting polls if it causes injustice to OBC communities,” Karnataka’s rural development minister K S Eshwarappa told the legislature last week.

The Opposition Congress party is demanding that the BJP use a caste census carried out during its tenure to seek a clearance from the Supreme Court to conduct pending local polls in the state.

“We have the options of conducting elections after constituting a commission and getting its report or to file a review petition in the Supreme Court. But it is impossible to hold elections without reservation for backward classes,” Bommai said.

The meeting with all parties also discussed multiple issues with regard to reservations that are pending before the government like the inclusion of the OBC Kuruba community among Scheduled Tribes, the demands for inclusion under the OBC category by multiple caste groups including Lingayat sub-sects.

“The meeting also discussed increasing reservation for STs to 7.5% (from three percent) in accordance with the demand of the community. Their population too has increased. The previous government had constituted the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission in this regard. The Commission has submitted its report to the previous BS Yediyurappas government. The Commission has recommended increasing the SC, ST reservation quota. We have to make a decision accordingly,” Bommai said.

“We have decided to deliver social justice for these communities by increasing their reservation quota,” Bommai said. “If reservation has to be provided, it has to be in accordance with Constitutional provisions and Supreme Court order. The Advocate General has been asked to submit a report in this regard. The report would be placed before the next all party meeting,” the Karnataka CM said.

“There is also the issue of a 50% ceiling on quota, whether we should cross it and how to go about it legally,” Bommai said. A meeting would be convened again in a month and a final decision on reservations and pending demands will be taken in consultation with the Opposition parties, he said.