With internal SC quota move, Karnataka BJP looks at an ace for 2023 polls

The decision was viewed as a BJP masterstroke to consolidate Dalit and tribal votes in line with the projected 24 per cent population of the two caste groups in the state.

However, the move brought additional pressure on the BJP, with other castes, particularly dominant groups such as the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, also demanding reservations and seeking a share in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota in the state.

Treading carefully to the demands, the BJP has suggested that it “has the intent” to bring about the reservations but faces legal hurdles – the Supreme Court has a 50 per cent ceiling on reservations – and other roadblocks such as Census (last conducted in 2011) that is hampering its ability identify socio-economically backward groups.

Among the many reservation hot potatoes that the Karnataka government is currently juggling is internal reservations for Dalits on the basis of the levels of discrimination that certain Dalit groups have faced in the past, rendering them more backward than others within the community.

On December 15, days after Dalit groups in Karnataka began an indefinite protest in Bengaluru seeking internal reservations for the most socially backward among the community, such as the Madigas, the Bommai government decided to set up a five-member Cabinet sub-committee to look at the demands.

The demands for internal reservations for Dalits in the state stand on a 2012 report by the Justice AJ Sadashiva commission. The report was presented to the BJP government led by Sadananda Gowda in 2012 but was not tabled by the subsequent Congress, Janata Dal (Secular), or BJP governments.

Among the essential findings of the report was that the Madiga community, part of the left Dalit group, was more backward than the right Dalits such as the Holeyas, and was considered untouchable in the caste hierarchy.

The report also found that the majority of the 15 per cent reservation for the 101 Dalit subsects in the state was being cornered by the right Dalit groups such as the Holeyas, Bhovis, and Lambanis.

Holeyas and Madigas make up nearly one-third each of the SC population in Karnataka, with the number of the Madigas being about two per cent higher than that of Holeyas, the report indicated.

Ahead of the 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah expressed its intent to table the report in the state legislature following pressure from H Anjaneya, a Cabinet minister from the Madiga community.

The Congress government, however, did not table the report and Siddaramaiah indicated that there were internal pressures from a strong Holeya-lobby in the party. Senior Dalit Congress leaders, including current Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Deputy CM G Parameshwaras, are from the Holeya community. Subsequently, the government stalled the release of the report.

In its manifesto in 2018, the JD(S) promised to release the findings of the report. Between 2018 and 2019, the party was in a coalition government with the Congress but did not act on the report.

BJP calculations

In 2018, the BJP too had promised to implement internal reservations if voted to power. Saying that the Congress “used Dalits just as vote banks”, the party added that it would ensure that the “fruits from the government will reach every Dalit in the state”.

After the 2008 Assembly polls, when it won 110 seats, the party managed to gain a strong footing among the Madigas. It had also promoted several leaders from the community such as Govind Karjol, who serves as the current water resources minister. Karjol was appointed a deputy CM in 2019 and is said to be nursing chief ministerial ambitions.

The recently announced sub-committee for internal reservations is being perceived as an attempt to retain the support base. Siddaramaiah has called the move an “eyewash”.

Hitting back, Bommai said: “We don’t have to take any lessons from him (Siddaramaiah). All the communities know our commitment. We are aware of the legal status. The incumbent government has shown its boldness by taking decisions on important issues. It is better for Siddaramaiah to look back before talking about others.”

There is also a fair amount of scepticism over the BJP’s move. Punjab, Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh have in the past tried to create internal reservations for Dalits but did not receive the Supreme Court’s sanction. The only way forward is a constitutional amendment involving the Centre.

The Cabinet sub-committee will comprise law minister JC Madhuswamy as the chairman, Karajol, fisheries minister S Angara, animal husbandry minister Prabhu Chavan and health minister Dr K Sudhakar as members. While Madhuswamy and Sudhakar are from the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga castes respectively, the other ministers are Dalits.