Karnataka is going to witness state assembly polls in a few months. Congress has released first list of its candidates. Leaders of BJP including PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah address number of rallies. It is believed that the election will be contested demonstrating former CM Yediyurappa as main contestant. Meanwhile, there are reports of incidents of stone pelting at the residence of former CM. However, police came into the action and resorted to mild lathi – charge to disperse the protestors.
Who is behind stone pelting incidents ?
A massive protest erupted outside former Karnataka chief minister and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa’s residence in Shivamogga’s Shikari Pura, demanding the withdrawal of the state government’s recent move on the internal reservation for the Scheduled Castes. According to reports, protestors from the Banjara and Bhovi communities vented out their anger and Banjaras pelted stones at former CM’s residence, claiming “little” reservation has been given to “Scheduled Caste” to which the Banjara community belongs.
Karnataka scraps 4% OBC quota for Muslims
Separately, ahead of the Assembly elections this year, the BJP-led Karnataka government also ended up the 4% Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation for Muslims last week. This quota has instead been split between the highly-influential castes of Vokkaligas (2%) and Lingayats (2%) under two reservation categories created last year. Moreover, the Muslims have been now moved under the 10% Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.
The protests erupted following recent recommendation to the central government for a revision of the reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) in jobs and education by CM Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in Karnataka.