Things are moving fast in Karnataka where assembly elections will be held in April-May, a matter of a few weeks. In the latest, after the BJP announced the scrapping of the 4 percent quota for the Muslim minority, the Congress vowed to restore it if it is returned to power. The Bommai government has also decided to honour the demand of Scheduled Castes for internal reservation as suggested in the 2012 AJ Sadashiva panel report.
The Congress and the BJP are the two front-runners in the fray with the Janata Dal(S) playing the role of a spoiler, albeit with the potential to upset. Also, the Congress and the JD (S) share a common goal to oust Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP-ruled government from the Centre, a dream that hinges heavily on the extent of opposition parties’ unity.
Opposition unity to fight the BJP has its own problems. Monday, top functionaries of the Bahujan Samaj Party led by BSP Supremo Mayawati met in New Delhi to discuss selection of BSP candidates for the Karnataka assembly elections, depicting once more the fractured nature of the opposition. The BSP doesn’t have a wide-enough base in Karnataka but is ready to enter the fray in a big way and play spoilsport, just like Asaduddin Owaisi does as a regular sport across India.
In the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections, the BSP won one assembly segment. The 2023 count could be anybody’s guess. Karnataka state BSP leaders were prominent at the party’s New Delhi meet, indicating that the BSP was taking the Karnataka elections seriously.
The 4 percent reservation for the Muslim minority, which the Bommai government has scrapped, has been conveniently divided between the Lingayats and the Vokkaligas under two newly created categories, 2D and 2C. The Lingayats will get 7 percent of the reservation in government jobs and education; the Vokkaligas will get 6 percent.
It is a straightforward case of appeasement, one which will help the BJP electorally. The Lingayats and the Vokkaligas are the two most powerful sects in Karnataka. They own Karnataka except the shattered dreams of the less fortunate.
The Congress has called the Bommai government’s devlish division of the 4 percent Muslim reservation between the Lingayats and Vokkaligas as “unscientific”, and asserted that quota is “not somebody’s property” to play around with, and apportion on a whim and fancy. Reservation is a right of the communities based on population and backwardness, says the Congress.
And dividing the culled 2 percent minority quota between the powerful Lingayats and Vokkaligas is like giving alms to the rich. The Veerashaiva Lingayats and Vokkaligas are not beggars, said the Congress, seeking to spike a sense of pride of the upper castes in these two essentially influential sects.
Faced with such an onslaught, the BJP is insisting that reservation on the basis of religion is against the Constitution, and “dangerous” to continue with. The Congress accused Chief Minister Bommai of plotting like the Mahabharat’s “Shakuni”, even as Bommai dismissed the name-calling and asserted that the Muslims got a far better deal with 10% under EWS.
“Where is the injustice? We have given them 6% more,” Bommai said. The reality is, it doesn’t matter who says what and, however, much anybody denies, the tested and tried “Hindu-Muslim-Hindu-Muslim” shouting matches on TV promise to keep both sides of the ailes on their toes with “4%” along with Hijab and Halal strong contenders to raise poll temperatures.
The Congress issued its first list of 124 candidates the other day, which includes the names of former Chief Minister Siddaramiah and KPCC President DK Shivakumar, both of whom are contenders for the Chief Minister’s post if the Congress forms government. Both have been behaving as such. When Siddaramiah campaigns in the “north Karnataka”; Shivakumar does it in “south Kanara” districts, and vice versa.
The long and short is the three main parties in the fray – Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) – are in election-mode. The ruling BJP is fighting anti-incumbency. There are also corruption allegations clouding the BJP’s sky. The Congress is upbeat, hoping to return to power and not fall prey to a repeat of BJP’s post-poll shenanigans.
The poll-scape this election season in Karnataka is peppered with ‘Yatras’, perhaps a fallout of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. The BJP has three yatras going – Jana Sankalpa Yatra, Rath Yatra, and Vijay Sankalp Yatra. The Congress, buoyed by Bharat Jodo Yatra, has Praja Dhwani Yatra led by Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar simultaneously. Last but not least, the JD(S) has HD Kumaraswamy’s Pancharatna Yatra. The JD(S) and Congress have no pre-poll arrangement. “Will the JD(S) nibble at Congress’ votes?” is a wrinkle on many Congress foreheads. (IPA Service)
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