Panchamasali quota row adds woes to K’taka govt ‘battered’ by series of cases

Bengaluru, Dec 12 (IANS) The Panchamasali quota row has added to the woes of the Congress-led Karnataka government facing a series of charges of alleged cases.

Even as the state government is putting a brave face by defending the police action against protestors demanding quota for the Panchamasali Lingayat sect, sources confirmed that the grand old party is deeply worried about the polarisation of the influential Lingayat community.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had managed to guide the Congress to achieve a simple majority in 2008, as the Lingayat vote bank was divided between the BJP and the KJP parties. The KJP was then launched by former CM B.S. Yediyurappa.

In 2019, the Congress led by Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar achieved a thumping majority following the division of Lingayat and Vokkaliga vote banks. The Congress, along with garnering votes of Dalits, backwards, minorities also got a major chunk of votes from the Panchamasali Lingayat sect, which comprises a major chunk of the population of the community. Another influential caste group Vokkaligas also had extended total support to the Congress.

The demand for reservation for the Panchamasali Lingayat sect under the 2A Category came to the forefront during the previous BJP government. Kudalasangama Panchamasali Peeth seer Basava Jaya Mruthyunjaya Swami led a series of stirs, and protests and also conducted padyatra from Basavakalyan to Bengaluru. He also led hunger strikes.

The Panchamasali Lingayat sect identifies itself with erstwhile queen Rani Channamma, who fought the British and martyred her life. The community boasts of a population of 80 lakh to 1 crore and is dominantly based in the north Karnataka region. The community is majorly dependent on agriculture.

The community leaders feel that the Panchamasali Lingayat sect has not got the positions in commensurate with its population as the plum posts went to other sects of Lingayats.

The Panchamasali community has been demanding inclusion under the 2A category for long. This helps them to move to the bracket of backward communities where 15 per cent of reservation is provided for different communities. The community is presently placed under the 3B category, which gets five per cent reservation in government jobs and education institutions.

In 2011-12, the BJP government under B.S. Yediyurappa worked to include the Panchamasali community in the backward classes list. In 2016, the Panchamasali community appealed to the Backward Classes Commission, chaired by Kantharaj, to include them in Category 2A. However, during Siddaramaiah’s tenure as Chief Minister, the commission rejected their demand.

The BJP government led by former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai reallocated the 4 per cent reservation provided to minorities under Category 2B into the newly created Categories 3C and 3D for Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas, respectively. This had created a furore. Later, the government order was challenged in the Supreme Court.

When the case came up for hearing, it coincided with the announcement of assembly elections, triggering the model code of conduct. Consequently, the BJP government’s legal team requested no interim orders and assured a comprehensive argument in court later. The Supreme Court then instructed that the order not be implemented until the next hearing. The BJP government also gave an undertaking in this regard.

The seer claims that 16 MLAs belonging to the Panchamasali Lingayat sect cutting across party lines were elected to the state Assembly. The latest incident has “turned” the Panchamasali Lingayat sect “hostile” towards the state government. The seer is now dubbing Siddaramaiah as “anti-Lingayat” repeatedly and the BJP has pledged its support to the movement seeking reservation.

The Congress which seemed to be on the upper hand following the victory in bypolls despite allegations of corruption is concerned about the consolidation of the Lingayat vote bank in the backdrop of the latest episode of violence as it is projected as the “assault” on Lingayats.

–IANS

mka/dan