Karnataka: Panchamasali Lingayat hold padayatra for reservation

In Karnataka, the Panchamasali Lingayat community padyatra, demanding more reservations to meet the educational and professional needs of its people, reached Belagavi on Thursday. Karnataka Assembly is currently holding its Winter Session at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi. BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil is spearheading the protest. Panchamasali Lingayats, who constitute 60 per cent of the Lingayat population, have claimed that they have not been given much-needed political representation, despite forming a larger chunk of the Lingayat community. They have the power to influence over 100 seats in the Kittur Karnataka region, which was earlier known as the Mumbai-Karnataka region, consisting of nearly 7 districts. The Kittur Karnataka region consists of Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Gadag, Dharwad, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, and Haveri.

The Panchamasalis, a subsection of the Lingayat community in Karnataka come under category 3B which has a 5 per cent quota. They now want to be included under category 2A, in which they will get a share in the 15 per cent reservation. The community is demanding they be included in the 15 per cent OBC category of 2A. The Panchamsalis are the largest formation of various sub sects of the Lingayat Community. They are mostly farmers and people associated with farming in various ways, which is why they carry a plough as a symbol. According to media reports, the Veerashaiva Lingayats currently get 5 percent reservation under the 3B category of the OBC quota, they want to move to 2A so that they get 15 percent.Ahead of next year's Assembly polls, the reservation issue has become a headache for Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as several communities among OBCs in Karnataka are also seeking an increase in their reservation quota.Several communities, including the Panchamasalis, Vokkaligas, and Marathas, have sought an increase in their reservation quota.

The Karnataka government had on Tuesday tabled a Bill in the state Assembly to increase reservations for Scheduled Castes (from 15 per cent to 17 per cent) and Scheduled Tribes (from 3 per cent to 7 per cent) in the state, breaching the Supreme Court mandated 50 per cent cap on quotas. The SCs make up 16 per cent of the state's population, and the STs constitute 6.9 per cent. The Karnataka Permanent Backward Classes Commission on Thursday submitted its much awaited interim report to the state government. Commission Chairman and former Minister Jayaprakash Hegde submitted the report to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.