Bengaluru, Mar 13 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Friday, warned of a statewide agitation if the state government fails to implement internal reservation for the Scheduled Caste (SC) community in line with the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee report and the directions of the Supreme Court.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, former Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai said that there was no need to convene a special Cabinet meeting to implement the measure.
"If Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was serious about the issue, the Karnataka government should immediately implement internal reservation as recommended by the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee and in accordance with the Supreme Court's direction," Bommai added.
He alleged that the state government had been consistently unjust to the SC and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities and it failed to take a clear stand on matters concerning them.
"During Siddaramaiah's earlier term as the Chief Minister between 2013 and 2018, strong demands were raised for internal reservation and increased quotas for SC and ST communities. Several seers and leaders of backward communities had even undertaken padayatras to press for the demand," Bommai said.
Criticising Siddaramaiah's claim of representing the AHINDA (minorities, backward classes and Dalits) communities, the BJP MP added that apart from Muslims, no major transformative schemes had been implemented for the other AHINDA groups.
The BJP leader also questioned the state government over the alleged diversion of funds meant for SC and ST communities.
Nearly Rs 60,000 crore earmarked for these communities had been used for other purposes, Bommai alleged.
He also claimed that Rs 441 crore allocated for the OBC welfare in the state budget was diverted to conduct the caste census, which should have been funded from the state's taxpayers.
Bommai said that SC and ST legislators serving on state boards and corporations had complained that funds for the Ganga Kalyana scheme were not released.
He accused the state government of lacking clarity and commitment on the issue of internal reservation.
Referring to the recommendations of B.R. Ambedkar, Bommai noted that reservations for SC and ST communities were meant to reflect their population share.
"During the previous BJP government's tenure in Karnataka, the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee had submitted a report recommending an increase in reservation, which the government had approved and implemented through legislation," the BJP leader said.
According to Bommai, the Supreme Court has already clarified that internal reservation can be implemented without a constitutional amendment.
"Despite receiving the Nagamohan Das Committee report again, the current Congress-led state government had failed to act and had instead taken decisions in the Cabinet according to its own preferences," he alleged.
He also said that the Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty had told the Karnataka High Court that a law on internal reservation had been enacted with the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval.
"If the law already exists, why is a special Cabinet meeting required?" he asked.
Bommai also alleged that divisions within the state Cabinet were delaying the decision, with one group supporting internal reservation and another opposing it.
The Chief Minister, he claimed, had yielded to pressure from Ministers who were against the move.
He also criticised the state government's plan to fill 56,000 posts without clarity on reservation.
"At present, 56 per cent reservation is already in force in the education sector, and if it is implemented firmly, the Supreme Court could intervene," Bommai said.
The BJP leader urged the state government to implement internal reservation immediately in accordance with the Supreme Court's direction and the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee report.
He also raised concerns about the plight of nomadic communities, saying many of them live in extremely difficult conditions without proper housing and often in forest areas, and remain neglected due to their lack of organised representation.
Warning of intensified protests, Bommai said demonstrations would be held in all districts if the state government failed to act.
"One agitation has already taken place and it will now spread across the state," he warned.
On the query of placing the increased reservation in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, Bommai remarked that it no longer offered the same level of protection as earlier because such provisions could still be challenged in court.
He noted that even the reservation framework in Tamil Nadu had faced legal challenges.
"There is no confusion about internal reservation in Telangana, but in Karnataka the state government simply lacks the will to implement it," he alleged.
BJP MP Govind Karjol, former Ministers B. Sriramulu, Raju Gowda, Shivanagouda Nayak and State BJP ST Morcha President Bangaru Hanumanthu were present at the press conference.
Source: IANS
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