Shivakumar’s ‘arrogance’, Bills on SC sub-categorisation and hate speech may heat up Karnataka legislature’s winter session

BJP sources indicate that remarks made by Shivakumar during an interaction with apartment owners and associations in Bengaluru on Saturday would be among the issues raised in the next few days. Shivakumar, who handles the Bengaluru development portfolio, had taken offence to one Kiran Hebbar warning the Congress Government of consequences during polls to various corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority if the Karnataka Apartment (Ownership and Management) Bill is not implemented soon.

Reading out his letter, Shivakumar had lashed out at Hebbar, prompting Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka to accuse the deputy chief minister of intimidation and openly threatening citizens. “…democracy does not bow to arrogance,” the BJP MLA said in a post on X, even as Shivakumar’s comments drew widespread condemnation on social media.

The Karnataka Scheduled Castes (Sub-Classification) Bill, which will secure a legal framework for the internal reservation announced to SC communities earlier this year, is expected to face opposition from the BJP and the JD(S). That nomadic tribes have been robbed of reservation rights in the proposed 6-6-5 arrangement—the “SC right” and “SC left” communities will get six per cent reservation and other SC communities will get five per cent reservation—will be among the key arguments by the Opposition. The passage of the Bill is crucial for the Congress Government as it would allow it to carry out recruitment for government posts without concerns of the internal reservation formula being blocked by various courts.

Apart from the BJP and the JD(S), Kannada outfits and rights groups have raised concerns about the Hate Speech Bill tabled in the Assembly last week. Noting the opposition to the Bill, government sources say that the Bill will likely be referred to a joint House committee for wider consultation before it is taken up again by the legislature.