Bengaluru, April 25 (IANS) Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra on Saturday criticised the Congress-led state government’s decision on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes, alleging that it amounts to a historic betrayal of the community.

In a statement released, Vijayendra said the Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had “backstabbed” Scheduled Castes by delaying the implementation of reservation distribution as per Supreme Court directions for nearly two-and-a-half years.

He said the state government has now categorised Scheduled Castes into A, B and C groups through a Cabinet decision.

He added that the previous BJP government under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s leadership had increased reservation for Scheduled Castes from 15 to 17 per cent.

However, the State BJP President alleged that the present Congress government has reduced allocations within categories.

According to Vijayendra, the quota for Category A has been reduced from 6 to 5.25 per cent, while Category B has been cut from 5.5 per cent to 5.25 per cent, resulting in injustice to multiple communities in the state.

He also alleged that the earlier allocation of 4.5 per cent for Banjara, Bhovi, Koracha and Korama communities, along with a separate one per cent reservation for nomadic groups, has been scrapped.

He said these groups have now been merged into a single Category C, and instead of a justified 5.5 per cent share, they have been given only 4.5 per cent, which he termed as another act of injustice.

The State BJP President also claimed that despite there being no stay order from the court, the state government itself filed an affidavit agreeing to reduce the overall Scheduled Caste reservation from 17 to 15 per cent, which led to the reduction.

Criticising the state government’s handling of employment, Vijayendra said lakhs of government posts remain vacant and have not been filled.

He accused the Congress government of wasting nearly two-and-a-half years in the name of internal reservation, and now, with only about two years left in its tenure, announcing recruitment as a means to mislead the public, including the Scheduled Castes.

He also warned that senior Congress leaders, including party President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, would have to pay a political price in the future for the alleged injustice done to Scheduled Castes in Karnataka.

Vijayendra said that if the Congress is truly committed to Scheduled Castes even now, the state government should undertake an appropriate legal battle to retain the 17 per cent reservation implemented under the previous BJP government.

Otherwise, the State BJP President cautioned, the Congress may face a significant political decline in South India.

In a move aimed at ensuring justice to all communities within the Scheduled Castes, the Karnataka Cabinet on Friday took a historic decision, unanimously approving internal reservation in the ratio of 5.25:5.25:4.5 for left, right, and other communities.

Siddaramaiah announced that for communities categorised as left (5.25 per cent), for Right (5.25 per cent), and for other communities (4.5 per cent) reservation.

“As announced in the Budget, the state government will fill 56,432 posts this year. Notifications will be issued shortly, and recruitment will be expedited. Until the court gives a final judgment, the 50 per cent reservation cap will be followed, though the state government remains committed to implementing 56 per cent reservation in the future,” the Chief Minister said.

–IANS

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