Revisiting the politics of quota & social justice in Karnataka

The BJP government’s decision to hike reservation for SC/STs has opened a Pandora’s Box ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections with two major communities - the Panchamasali Lingayats and Vokkaligas - agitating for higher quota.

The Panchamasalis, who are said to be the numerically stronger sub-sect of the Lingayats, come under category 3B, which has a 5 per cent quota. They want to be under category 2A, in which they will get a share in the 15 per cent reservation.

The Vokkaligas, a dominant community in southern Karnataka, comes under Category 3A with a 4 per cent quota. They want this to be increased to 12 per cent.

Both communities decided to up the ante after the BJP government hiked reservations for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent. This has taken the reservation tally to 56 per cent, above the 50 per cent quota ceiling fixed by the Supreme Court.

According to experts, the Panchamasali Lingayats and Vokkaligas have the might to decide the fate of an election. While Lingayats are seen as the BJP’s support base, the saffron party is looking to woo the Vokkaligas who call the shots in the old Mysuru region. The Panchamasalis have set a December 19 deadline for the government to act on their demand. Similarly, the Vokkaligas will wait until January 23 for the government’s word. Both communities have threatened to hit the streets if their demands are unmet.

Political analyst Ravindra Reshme calls this “social justice politics” that Karnataka has seen since 1976. “On one hand, we see the resurgence of communal politics and on the other, we see populist politics with dominating communities demanding reservation,” he says.

According to Reshme, in 1976, then chief minister D Devaraj Urs took the risk of implementing the Havanur commission report for reservation of OBCs in spite of an impending Lok Sabha election. “The OBC list excluded Lingayats, but had Vokkaligas and other small communities. This led to protests by Lingayats who even moved court. The Supreme Court upheld the Havanur report and a Constitution bench said depravations of poverty are aggravated by the consideration of castes,” he recalls.

In 1984, the Ramakrishna Hegde government appointed T Venkataswamy commission that prepared a different list in which both Vokkaligas and Lingayats were not considered in toto, Reshme says. “Both the dominant communities felt offended and opposed it. As they were the backbone of the Hegde government, he decided to reject the Venkataswamy Commission report,” Reshme says.

Experts also recalled how the Vokkaligas were enraged before the 1994 Assembly elections as the Veerappa Moily government had issued an order based on the Chinnappa Reddy Commission report that excluded the Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Catholic Christians, Ganigas and Devangas. JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda led a rally along with Adichunchunagiri Mutt’s pontiff the late Balagangadharanatha Swami against the report.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s calculated move to hike SC/ST quota has an eye on the votes of these communities. There is speculation that he would make a policy announcement acceding to the demands by the Panchamasalis and Vokkaligas just before the Assembly elections next year.

Former Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes chairperson C S Dwarakanath frowns that the two dominant communities are making the entire reservation system irrelevant. “Seeking reservation has become like a sweet-meat stall,” he says. “On what basis are they demanding reservation? And, on what basis will the government decide? There’s no scientific basis these two communities have to demand reservation. Why are they agitating when 4-5 months are left for elections? What were they doing for the last 4-5 years?” he asks.

The dominant Kurubas have their own demand to be put under the ST list. There are other communities that have put forth reservation-related demands - Idiga, Balijas, Vishwakarmas and so on.