CM likely to convene all-party meet on quota for Panchamasalis

Shyam Sundar Vattam I NT

Bengaluru: Following suggestions from legal experts, the state cabinet meeting which was held in Belagavi on Thursday resolved not to take any decision on the inclusion of the Panchamasali community under 2A category of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) till a discussion is held at an all-party meeting.

Highly placed sources told News Trail that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, after receiving the interim report from K.Jayaprakash Hegde, chairman, Karnataka Backward Classes Commission wanted to vet the report in the Cabinet meeting to make a formal announcement on the inclusion of the Panchamasali community under 2A category.

Community leaders led by Sri Jaya Mruthyunjaya Swamy of Panchamasali Peeta, Koodalasangama had threatened to lay siege to Suvarna Soudha indefinitely till their demands are met. But senior ministers and legal experts advised Bommai not to hurry as it would provoke the existing communities in 2A category who would be apprehensive of a loss of opportunities for them.

Already, the Billawa community has announced its decision to take out a padayatra from Dakshina Kannada to Bengaluru in support of their demand. The community headed by the seer has decided to stay back at Freedom Park till the government meets their demand.

Also, a number of BJP MLAs of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada have appealed to the CM to go slow on meeting the demands of the Panchamasali community as other communities would object to it. As the Assembly elections are just four to five months away, they must handle the issue carefully without antagonizing any community because every seat is important to return to power, they stressed.

Law and Parliamentary Af fairs Minister J.C.Madhuswamy then advised the CM to call an allparty meeting and discuss the issue so that all political parties would be bound by any decision taken in the meeting. A unilateral decision on the subject would be akin to giving ammunition to the Opposition Congress Party to attack the saffron party, he felt.

Agreeing with this, Bommai is said to have decided to convene a meeting of leaders of all political parties to discuss the interim report on any day after Monday. Since the current winter session would end on December 30, the Bommai Government would like to take the approval of all parties before making a formal announcement.

Even former PM and Janata Dal (Secular) Supremo H.D.Deve Gowda has asked the CM to go slow on the quota issue as it would boomerang on them in the coming days.