What explains Congress’ stance on Panchamasali quota demand?

NT Belagavi

The ruling Congress’ handling of protests by Panchamasali-Lingayats demanding greater reservation benefits can be understood in the light of a few concerns. Panchamasalis, a Lingayat sub-sect, claim to account for 60 per cent of the community. Under the leadership of seer Basavajaya Mrutunjaya Swamy, they are demanding they be shifted from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) 3B sub-category under which they get five per cent reservation along with other Lingayats, to 2A sub-category which would afford them 15 per cent quota.

On the eve of the Assembly polls in March 2023, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had abolished the 2B sub-category which grants Muslims four per cent quota, and distributed it equally among the newly created sub-categories namely 2C for Vokkaligas and 2D for Lingayats. The seer agreed to the solution and called off protests. However, the Supreme Court stayed the order a month later forcing the Bommai government to hold off. Basavajaya Mrutunjaya Swamy has been in talks with CM Siddaramaiah but to no avail. Moreover, the issue escalated recently when the seer refused to meet with a delegation of ministers and instead staged a protest in front of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi on December 10.

The demonstration turned violent and policemen responded with lathi-charge. Basavajaya Mrutunjaya declared the State government “anti-Lingayat” warning of electoral consequences if Siddaramaiah didn’t tender an apology and suspend the cops. The issue led to a shouting match between the Congress and Opposition BJP, which now supports the Panchamasali demands.

CM wary of fall-out: Siddaramaiah hasn’t accepted the demands of the community due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the State government cannot move the Panchamasalis to the 2B or 2D sub-categories because the issue is pending before the Apex Court. Secondly, if the CM yields, then a host of castes will make similar demands and it may harm the Congress’ political fortunes. For instance, Kurubas may reiterate their claim to Scheduled Tribe (ST) quota.

Speaking exclusively to News Trail, retired political science professor Muzaffar Assadi touched on these issues. “They (the State government) can do it (accept the Panchamasali demands) but it will open the Pandora’s Box. Everyone will start making similar demands. Vokkaligas have 90 plus sub-castes among them,” he said. “It’ll be caste-based competitive politics. Every day there will be strikes,” he added. Lastly, the Panchamasalis aren’t a Congress support base and mostly vote BJP. As such, Congress is willing to pay a small political price for the scuttling the demand. More importantly, many OBCs are Congress voters. The Karnataka State Backward Classes Forum (KSBCF) had submitted a memorandum to Siddaramaiah warning that if Panchamasali were met, they would stage protests. They reasoned that Panchamasalis, a “forward” caste, would corner the 2A quota, negatively affecting smaller marginalized castes.

“Panchamasalis are not a social base of the Congress,” Assadi said, adding that a minority among them had shifted to the Congress during the Assembly polls. “Traditionally, they had been BJP supporters and now they have gone back in Belagavi and elsewhere to the same old fold. So there is no benefit in it for them (Congress),” he said.