K'taka: BJP flags 'injustice' over pending internal reservation, slams Cong-led govt

Bengaluru, Feb 28 (IANS) The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday accused the Congress-led government of continuing with the old reservation system and failing to implement internal reservation, alleging that Dalits have been cheated and youth treated unjustly. 

Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy challenged the government to clarify how it intends to provide internal reservation, stating that continuing with the old reservation system does not amount to implementing internal reservation.

It may be recalled that, citing technical and legal reasons, the Congress-led government had announced that it would recruit 56,432 candidates under the old reservation formula.

Narayanaswamy said, “The Congress government has not implemented internal reservation. For so long, you have cheated Dalits and done injustice to the youth. The current situation is due to the government’s failure and not the fault of the people.”

He said internal reservation must be provided within the 17 per cent quota allocated to Scheduled Castes. However, he noted that the matter is pending before the court, making implementation difficult at present.

He pointed out that states such as Jharkhand, Haryana and Telangana have implemented internal reservation. He also emphasised that while the state government has cited the 50 per cent reservation cap, there is no such limit specifically applicable to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes within their allocated quota.

He accused the government of failing to properly explain the issue to the people and said blaming the public was unacceptable. He warned that if the government does not clearly spell out how it plans to implement internal reservation, he would inform the affected communities that they are being insulted and deceived.

Narayanaswamy recalled that during the BJP-led government headed by former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, reservation for Scheduled Castes was increased from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent.

He said the demand for internal reservation among Scheduled Castes has been ongoing for decades, and the previous government had constituted sub-groups and forwarded the proposal to the Central government, as the state lacked the authority to implement it at that time.

He said the Central government had advised waiting due to the pending court case, but subsequently the court allowed states to take their own decisions, making it easier to implement internal reservation. He urged the state government to take a political decision and implement the policy.

Narayanaswamy said that the earlier classification of 6 per cent, 5 per cent, 4 per cent and 1 per cent was revised, and a political decision was taken to place Adi Karnataka, Adi Dravida and Adi Andhra communities in separate categories.

He stated that these are their original caste identities. He also pointed out that nomadic communities, though spread across these groups, were placed under Group C.

He said that although this arrangement was not entirely correct, there was broad agreement in order to arrive at a settlement, with the understanding that any injustice caused to certain groups could be rectified in the future.

Narayanaswamy said a tense atmosphere had developed in the state amid concerns that all government posts would go to a single group. During this period, youth in Dharwad launched a major protest raising these concerns.

He said concerns have emerged over the unequal distribution of opportunities among sub-groups, creating tension in the state. Youth in Dharwad alleged that 2.84 lakh government posts have remained vacant due to delays linked to internal reservation. He claimed that as BJP leaders extended support to the protesting students and youth, the government was forced to act and approach the Governor for consent on internal reservation. However, he questioned what concrete action has been taken by the government despite obtaining the Governor’s approval.