Siddaramaiah calls BJP "anti-reservation"

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday accused the ruling BJP of being "anti-reservation", and said the government's decision to hike SC/ST quota in the state, lacked legal protection.

Bengaluru:Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday accused the ruling BJP of being "anti-reservation", and said the government's decision to hike SC/ST quota in the state, lacked legal protection. The state government had recently promulgated an ordinance enhancing reservation for SCs from 15 to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 to 7 per cent.

"Is there legal or constitutional protection for it? Have they brought it under the 9th Schedule (of the constitution)? I demand they put pressure on the union government to have it included in the 9th Schedule," Siddaramaiah told reporters here. Pointing out that Justice H N Nagamohan Das Commission submitted its report to the government recommending the quota hike in July 2020.

He said, "In every Assembly session, our MLAs (Congress) protested. Did one SC/ST MLA from the BJP protest? They dragged the issue unnecessarily." Hitting out at the BJP, which held an OBC rally in Kalaburagi on October 30, the former Chief Minister said the ruling party managed to mobilise only 40,000-50,000 people against its claim of five lakh.

When OBCs got reservation in higher learning, BJP leaders (late) Ananthkumar, B S Yediyurappa and K S Eshwarappa had opposed it, he said, BJP leaders had even opposed the 73rd and 74th amendment to the Constitution which gave reservation to OBCs and women in local bodies.

"Show me one instance where BJP fought in favour of reservation for backward classes since Independence," he said, as he highlighted that Rama Jois, who was then BJP vice-president and Rajya Sabha member, had gone to the Supreme Court against such reservation for the community.

Siddaramaiah also said the centre's decision regarding 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) was not in line with the Constitution. It was a suo moto decision of the Modi government, he said, "Was there a demand for it? It's against Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution that talk about reservation only for those who are socially and educationally backward. There's no provision for reservation for economic backwardness. Still, the quota was given for the poor among the upper castes." (PTI)