With quota hike, BJP seeks an edge in the race for 15 ST seats

The dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities have been given a hike of only 2 per cent each (after cancelling the Muslim OBC quota of 4 per cent) from 5 to 7 per cent and 4 to 6 per cent respectively despite seeking between 11 and 15 per cent. The Scheduled Caste (SC) quota has also been hiked by only 2 per cent from 15 to 17 per cent.

By delivering on a long pending demand of the STs for a hike in quota in proportion to their population, the BJP is hoping to consolidate the ST vote in its favour, especially of the dominant Valmiki Nayak ST community, across Karnataka and in 15 Assembly seats (of the total 224) reserved for ST candidates.

With the ST quota move, the BJP is also hoping to overcome the failure of its ST leaders in delivering a strong outcome for it in the last three Assembly polls where it finished on par with the Congress or second best to it.

The Congress has managed to hold on to its traditional base in the ST communities despite the emergence of big tribal leaders in the BJP in recent times. The Congress won nine of the 15 ST-reserved seats in 2013 when the tribal support base of the BJP collapsed after its main ST leader B Sreeramulu from Ballari floated his own outfit, the BSR Congress, and won three reserved seats. In the 2008 and 2018 polls, the Congress and the BJP finished with seven ST-reserved seats each.

“It is a political decision by the BJP. All these days they slept and now they have suddenly woken up. This is the effect of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, price rise, and corruption allegations against the BJP. They have all of a sudden become active on this issue,” said former Congress MP V S Ugrappa, who is from the Valmiki Nayak community, when the hike in ST quota was announced last October.

With the decision, the BJP is confident of securing the support of STs, especially the Valmiki Nayaks, despite failing to deliver on the promise of the post of a Deputy CM and sidelining B Sreeramulu who in 2018 contested against then CM Siddaramaiah of the Congress from Badami in Bagalkot district.

In the run-up to the 2018 Assembly polls, Sreeramulu had promised a hike in the ST quota on behalf of the BJP. With Ballari having a sizeable population of Valmiki Nayaks, Sreeramulu has been the BJP’s main tribal leader for the last decade.

Since then, Sreeramulu has seen his prominence gradually decline.