Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai will face the state legislature on Monday, when the monsoon session begins, for the first time since he took oath on July 28.
The session, expected to go on at least till September 24, comes at a time when the Bommai government continues to face increasing pressure over both backward and dominant castes’ demands for reservation and the release of the 2015 caste census data.
Bommai has so far played it safe by pandering to both sides with assurances to look into their demands. The dominant caste groups, such as Lingayats and Vokkaligas, have demanded that the findings of the 2015 socio-economic and educational survey not be released as it would adversely impact the standing of the two communities, believed to be the two largest in the state.
A group of extremely backward castes has also gone to court in August and is demanding that Bommai release the data of the survey, conducted by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government at a cost of ₹160 crore. The extremely backward caste groups have also demanded that Panchamasali, the biggest sub-sect within the Lingayats, not be included in the 2A category of the state reservation list as it would further deprive small, micro, extremely backward and invisible communities of benefits.
Bommai also faces a tough task in trying to keep the Panchamasali community from going ahead with their agitation from September 15, if the government does not include them in the 2A category.
{{/usCountry}}Bommai also faces a tough task in trying to keep the Panchamasali community from going ahead with their agitation from September 15, if the government does not include them in the 2A category.
{{/usCountry}}The community was asked not to go ahead with its agitation by BS Yediyurappa, then chief minister, who also assured help on their demands to be pushed to 2A category.
The two groups are trying to mobilise support for their causes that further adds to the pressure on Bommai who has less than two years left in the top chair before heading to the polls in 2023. Bommai is trying to carve a space for himself and come out of the shadow of his mentor, Yediyurappa, who appears to be still in charge of the government and its functioning.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) will be holding their legislature party meetings on Monday to decide the next course of action during the monsoon session.
The Congress is trying to corner the BJP on the issue of price rise and caste census.
Siddaramaiah, the Congress’s leader of the opposition, will come to the Vidhana Soudha on a bullock cart on Monday, his office said, as a symbolic protest against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over the rising prices of fuel.
The JD(S) too has its problems as it faces dissent from within its ranks and is contemplating disciplinary action against at least three of its legislators.
The JD(S) is in talks with the Congress and the BJP over the formation of the city administration in Kalaburagi after a hung verdict in the September 3 urban local body (ULB) polls.
State Congress president DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that there were attempts by the BJP to poach its corporators.
“Let them (authorities) announce the Mayor elections then we will see. They (BJP) are trying for operation lotus, let them do what they want. I don’t want to talk about it,” Shivakumar said.
Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, the Speaker of the lower house of the state legislature, on had said on Wednesday that an ethics committee is likely to be formed during the upcoming monsoon session. There would also be an award for the best legislator at the end of the session.
Kageri had said that the restrictions on public from attending the sessions would also be lifted after they were barred due to rising concerns over Covid-19 pandemic.
He said a total of 18 bills will be tabled in the upcoming session of which 10 are new and four are to replace ordinances issued earlier. Four are pending in the assembly.