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Journalism of Courage
That the BJP’s pre-election move in Karnataka to hike the reservation quota of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities did not pay off is illustrated by its performance in reserved constituencies. While the party failed to secure a single ST-reserved seat — it won seven last time — its tally of SC-reserved constituencies dropped from 16 in 2018 to 12.
The Congress won 21 of the 36 SC-reserved seats and swept the ST seats by winning 14 of 15 while one went to the Janata Dal (Secular). Both these numbers mark a big increase for the Congress, which won seven ST seats and 12 SC seats in 2018.
The BJP lost the high-profile Molakalmuru (ST) seat that B Sriramulu, one of the tallest leaders in the Valmiki community, represented. Sriramulu had been touted as a deputy chief ministerial candidate before the 2018 polls. Congress candidate N Y Gopalkrishna, a former BJP MLA from Kudligi who joined Congress ahead of the elections, defeated Sriramulu.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president Satish Jarkiholi, a prominent tribal leader, won from Yemkanmardi for a fourth successive term. The other constituencies Congress won include Shorapur, Raichur Rural, Manvi, Maski, Kampli, Siruguppa, Bellary Rural, Sandur, Kudligi, Molakalmuru, Challakere, Jagalur, and HD Kote. Karemma G Nayak is the sole JD(S) MLA from the ST-reserved seats. She won Devadurga by defeating sitting BJP MLA Shivanagouda with a margin of 34,256 votes.
Public Works Department (PWD) minister Govind Karjol, a former deputy CM, was among the BJP legislators to lose from SC-reserved constituencies. Congress candidate R B Thimmapur defeated him from the Mudhol constituency in Bagalkot district. The dispute over the choice of candidate in Haveri cost the BJP and precipitated the victory of Congress’s Rudrappa Malani by 11,900 votes. In Koratagere, former KPCC president G Parameshwar trumped BJP candidate and former IAS officer B H Anil Kumar.
Former Union Minister and Congress leader K H Muniyappa won Devanahalli constituency by 4,256 votes. In Nanjangud, Darshan Dhruvanarayan, the son of former MP and KPCC working president R Dhurvanarayan who died days ahead of polls, was the victor.
The BJP’s Prabhu Chauhan retained his seat in Aurad while incumbent Chincholi MLA Avinash Jadhav, the son of BJP MP Umesh Jadhav, won by just 814 votes.
Last October, the Karnataka government announced the hike in reservation for SCs from 15% to 17% and that of STs from 3% to 7%. The BJP hoped that along with its earlier move to increase reservation for the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities, this would help it reach out to the SC and ST communities and boost its electoral prospects.
This reservation hike is yet to be official as the changes in the reservation matrix are not part of the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution that lists state and central laws that cannot be challenged in courts. Moreover, the Supreme Court has placed a 50% ceiling on reservation. With the quota hikes, Karnataka has breached the limit, taking it to 56%.
In another of its social engineering attempts, the BJP announced a 6% internal reservation in the 17% SC quota for the SC Left category, considered the more backward group among Dalits. The SC Right group got a 5.5% share, “touchable” communities such as Banjaras and Bhovis got 4.5%, and other SC communities got the remaining 1%. The move triggered violent protests by members of the Banjara community.
