K’taka MLA Seeks Lingayat Community Reservation Under OBC Quota

BJP MLA Arvind Bellad has written a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai calling for an end to the reservation given to Muslim and Christian communities under the OBC quota.

BJP’s Arvind Bellad has spoken out on reservation for the Lingayat community under the OBC quota. (Photo: Twitter)

By Sagay Raj: Arvind Bellad, MLA for Dharwad West, has written to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to end offering reservations to Muslims and Christians under the OBC quota in the state. Bellad said reservations offered to these communities should be taken back and given to the Panchamasali community.

Panchamasali Lingayats, a major sub-section of the Linagayat community, is demanding reservation under the OBC category.

“According to our constitution, the reservation was given to the people on the basis of caste, not religion. The reservation to be given to OBC was given to Muslims and Christians by the previous administration of Congress. These communities are enough already get money for their development from the central and state governments through minority ministries,” Arvind Bellad said in his letter.

“In order to rectify the wrongs done to the OBC, we must limit the Muslim and Christian reservations in the OBC quota. Instead, those reservations should be given to Lingayat Panchamasali, other sects of the Lingayat communities, Kuruba ( shepherd) and other communities. I request you to right the wrongs that have been taking place for so many years,” he added.

At present, Panchamasalis are categorized in the 3B subdivision under the Backward Class (BC) category and claim to be included in the 2A subdivision which offers 15 percent reservation in education and employment.

The government of Karnataka had recently increased the reservation for the scheduled castes and tribes in the state according to the recommendations of the report of the Justice Commission Nagamohan Das.

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