No zilla, taluka polls without OBC quota, says Eshwarappa

There are 232 taluka panchayats under 31 Zilla panchayats in the state that cover over 30,000 villages.

Rural development and panchayat raj minister KS Eshwarappa on Sunday said the Karnataka government would not hold elections to taluka and zilla panchayat until reservation to other backward classes (OBCs) was provided.

KS Eshwarappa said that the government would submit its request before the apex court and hold rounds of discussion with legal experts on the issue (Agencies)

“Without reservations for backward classes, we will not conduct zilla and taluka panchayat elections in Karnataka,” Eshwarappa said on Sunday.

The Supreme Court struck down the Maharashtra government’s move to bring reservations for the OBCs in local body elections last month. The Karnataka government under former chief minister Siddaramaiah had carried out a socio, economic and education survey in 2015, better known as caste-census, which has not yet been officially released, adding to the delay.

Eshwarappa said that the government would submit its request before the apex court and hold rounds of discussion with legal experts on the issue. There are 232 taluka panchayats under 31 Zilla panchayats in the state that cover over 30,000 villages.

“I asked Siddaramaiah for an entire year of their term about it. But they did not release it. If there is anyone who has meted out injustice to backward classes, it is Siddaramaiah,” Eshwarappa said.

The statements come when the zilla and taluka panchayat elections have been delayed after the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill 2021 was passed, allowing the state to carry out the delimitation exercise that would redraw boundaries of several such constituencies.

The BJP government has refused to bring it out since it came to power as the leaked findings indicate that it would lower the percentages of dominant communities like Lingayats, believed to be the single largest caste group in the state and known to back the saffron outfit.

The report is yet to be released which has now become the basis on which the Bommai government too has made assurances to other dominant caste groups like the Panchamasali, the biggest sub-sect within the Lingayats, of better reservation status.

Siddaramaiah had accused the BJP government of not doing enough to hold the elections.

“It (early elections) won’t come. BJP, Bommai, (BS)Yediyurappa, CT Ravi have also said it. Why will they do it? It will happen in April (next year). But if it does happen, we (Congress) are ready,” Siddaramaiah said.