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Karnataka is heading for polls and one of the largest vote banks in the state – the Dalit community – has put forth demands for internal reservation in the community.
With uncertainty looming over the way the Dalit community may swing in the upcoming polls, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is playing safe and has ordered the formation of an expert committee to probe the feasibility of the demand for internal reservation.
On Sunday, Siddaramaiah met Dalit leaders representing various sections of the community to discuss their demand of implementing the Justice Sadashiva Committee Report.
The report recommended classifying the 100 odd castes into four groups – Right Community, Left Community, Touchables and Other Scheduled Castes.
Sources in the Congress said that the Dalit community of Chaluvadis strongly opposed the demand for internal reservation put forth by the Madigas.
Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya and former Union Minister KH Muniyappa, both belonging to the Madiga community, have been rallying for the Sadashiva Committee Report to be implemented. Congress sources say that several Chaluvadi leaders have been trying to derail their efforts.
Speaking to The News Minute, noted political analyst Sandeep Shastri says that the expert committee is only a way of pushing an issue that the government does not want to deal with.
Sandeep maintains that the Mada and Madiga community along with other Dalit minorities are the ones who feel cornered as they have not been able to reap the benefits of reservation compared to the Chaluvadis.
The Congress has always projected itself as a party which has championed the cause of Dalits.
Siddaramaiah too has branded himself as the champion of Ahinda (an alliance of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward castes and minorities). However, Congress sources believe that his leaning towards the Chaluvadi community may have alienated a certain section of the Dalit community.
Speaking to The News Minute, B Gopal, former state president of the Bahujan Samaj Party, says that unlike popular opinion, the Dalit vote bank has always been the most unreliable one.
Corroborating Gopal’s statement, Sandeep says that another reason why Dalit votes are extremely vulnerable is all the political middlemen who influence the 1,900 odd groups within the community.
He says that after 1980, the Dalit community in the state has never voted for a specific party.
“Since 1980, Chaluvadis have always supported Congress. But since 2001-02, the Dalit votes split between the Janata Party and the BJP. Ever since, it has been unpredictable as to which way the community will swing,” he adds.
(This article was originally published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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