Today in Politics: Amit Shah to chair meeting on Karnataka drought, big Congress protest in Kerala

During the visit to Delhi earlier in the week, Siddaramaiah met Modi who, he said, assured him that he would discuss the issue with Shah. According to the state government, 223 taluks have been declared drought-hit due to insufficient monsoon rains, of which 196 are severely drought-hit.

Siddaramaiah also said the state government had placed four other demands with the Centre apart from drought relief, including hiking the number of work days under MGNREGS from 100 to 150, releasing the funds for the Upper Bhadra lift irrigation project as announced in the last Union Budget, environmental clearance for the Mahadayi river diversion, and permission to implement the Mekedatu reservoir project.

Veerashaivas and Karnataka caste survey

As the government seeks a resolution to the state’s drought crisis, it continues to face hurdles in its push for the release of a caste survey report that the previous Siddaramaiah government had commissioned in 2015. Beginning Saturday, the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha is holding its two-day convention in central Karnataka’s Davanagere, where leaders from the politically influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community are likely to discuss the report being prepared by the Karnataka State Commission For Backward Classes.

The Mahasabha has already expressed opposition to the survey and is likely to pass a resolution in this regard on Sunday. Notably, the Mahasabha is headed by Congress leaders, including the veterans Shamanur Shivashankarappa (president) and Bheemanna Khandre (honorary president), and leaders from across party lines.

Last month, Shivashankarappa suggested that Lingayats would no longer be the single-largest community in the state if the survey report was made public. The community will be unseated from the top spot due to faulty methods employed by the survey, he alleged.

Not just Shivashankarappa, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar who is a Vokkaliga, the other dominant caste group in Karnataka, is also opposed to the release of the report. But for Siddaramaiah, the release of the report is linked to a matter of his political legacy.

Recommended reading: Siddaramaiah’s test — Congress faces Karnataka conundrum over caste survey report

Maharashtra deadline set to end

In Maharashtra, the Maratha quota stir may escalate on Saturday as activist Manoj Jarange-Patil is expected to announce the community’s next course of action at a meeting in Beed. Jarange-Patil who is leading the movement had set a deadline of December 24 for the government to fulfil the reservation demands despite CM Eknath Shinde announcing a special session of the Maharashtra Assembly in February to discuss the reservation issue.

“We will not wait for reservation till February. We are firm on launching protests from December 24 if the state government fails to clarify its stance on enacting the law (for quota) and doesn’t issue the order to collectors for the issuance of Kunbi (OBC) certificates to all Marathas,” Jarange-Patil told reporters on Tuesday in Antarwali Sarathi village, the ground zero of the quota stir, in Jalna district.

Congress will hit the streets

In Kerala, as the state government’s Nava Kerala Sadas outreach programme concludes on Saturday, the state Congress is set to hold a march in protest against police action against Youth Congress activists.

The Opposition party alleges that the ruling CPI(M) workers and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s security personnel brutally assaulted the activists of their youth and student outfits for waving black flags on Wednesday. Led by state unit chief and MLA K Sudhakaran, 25,000 party workers are expected to march to DGP Sheikh Darvesh Sahib’s office in Thiruvananthapuram, a Congress official said.

Since the beginning of the Nava Kerala Sadas programme last month, Kerala has been witnessing clashes over waving black flags at the vehicles of the CM and his Cabinet colleagues.

Recommended reading: A day at Nava Kerala Sadas — Vijayan returns as ‘Captain’ at the head of Cabinet-on-wheels