The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday is said to have informally discussed the demand for higher reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the Panchamasali Lingayat community.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is said to have sought time to take a decision on this issue after consulting legal experts and the BJP central leadership, according to official sources.
The Panchamasali Lingayat community wants to be included in category 2A (15%) of OBC reservation matrix. They are currently included under 3B (5 %).
According to sources, the Cabinet did not take any decision on the reservation demand. It is said that the Chief Minister is likely to visit New Delhi soon, and is expected to discuss the demand for higher reservation of the Panchamasali Lingayats with the party high command, and is also expected to consult legal experts on the quota issue.
Panchamasali Lingayats, a sub-sect of the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, considered to be BJP’s core voter base, have been holding protests and demonstrations for some time now, pushing their demand.
Bommai is also said to have held talks with community leaders including BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who has been at the forefront of the agitation by the community, ahead of the Cabinet meeting.
There are some talks that the next Cabinet meeting is likely to take a decision on providing a higher quota for the Panchamashali community.
Karnataka Permanent Backward Classes Commission Chairman Jayaprakash Hegde, earlier in the day submitted an interim report to Bommai, in which the commission has reportedly recommended against increasing the quota for the Panchamashali community under 2A category and rather suggested for providing quota under a separate category.
Panchamasali Lingayats held a massive convention, as a show of strength in Belagavi today under the leadership of Kudalasangama Panchamasali Peeth Seer Basava Jaya Mruthyunjaya Swami, who is spearheading the agitation on reservation demand.
The reservation issue is seen as a “biting the bullet” sort of a situation for the ruling BJP, ahead of assembly polls by April-May next year.
With already 102 occupational sub-castes under 2A category sharing 15 per cent reservation, it remains to be seen how the government goes about without altering political equations, as there is likely to be some resentment by existing sub-castes under the category.
There is also demand by several communities, including the Vokkaligas and Marathas, among others, for an increase in reservation.