THE PANCHAMASALIS, a dominant sub-sect of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, are on a 450km padyatra to Bengaluru from Koodalasangama in Bagalkot, the resting place of Basavanna, the founder of Lingayatism. Their demand—a move from 3B (which assures 5 per cent reservation) to 2A category (15 per cent) within the state’s OBC quota.
At present, Karnataka has a 15 per cent quota for scheduled castes (101 castes), 3 per cent for scheduled tribes (50 groups) and 32 per cent for OBCs (207 castes). There are five sub-categories within the OBCs. The numerically strong Panchamasalis currently share their 5 per cent reservation with various other caste groups, besides Marathas, Jains, and Christians.
“The Panchamasalis are farmers and a majority are socially, economically, and educationally backward and need reservation under 2A,” said padayatra leader Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami of Panchamasali Peetha in Koodalasangama.
The march has embarrassed Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the tallest Lingayat leader in the state, at a time when the ruling BJP is searching for his political successor. It has been only a few years since the community—encouraged by Congress ministers M.B. Patil and Vinay Kulkarni—had demanded a minority religion tag for itself. While that movement seems to have fizzled out after the Congress lost 14 seats in the Lingayat belt (Mumbai-Karnataka region) in the assembly elections, Yediyurappa is finding it difficult to hold on to the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, a force in over 100 assembly constituencies.
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