Members of Scheduled Castes community, under the banner of the Karnataka State Madiga Meesalati Horata Samiti, have planned a padayatra from Kudalasangama in Bagalakot district to Bengaluru on November 20 to mount pressure on the State government to recommend to the Union government on providing internal reservation to Scheduled Castes as recommended by the A.J. Sadashiva Commission.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, H. Hanumanthappa, president of the samiti, criticised the Congress government in general and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in particular for making hollow promises and not initiating any steps to concede the long-pending demand for internal reservation.
“We have resorted to all kinds of agitation to press for our demands. In turn, the Chief Minister, who has had discussions with us as many as 11 times, has been giving only assurances and not keeping his words. Apart from that the police force was also being used to snub the ongoing struggle. We are not going to be cowed down by it. Our padayatra will be an intensified one and we will storm the Vidhana Soudha urging the Congress government, for the last time, to concede our demands to place the proposal on internal reservation in the ongoing winter session of the Assembly. If it fails to do so, we will chalk out a plan of action to teach a befitting lesson to not only the Congress but also Mr. Siddaramaiah in the coming elections to Assembly,” he said.
Special session
Mr. Hanumanthappa wanted the Chief Minister to convene a special session and adopt a unanimous resolution on the issue and forward the recommendation to the Union government to ensure justice to the Scheduled Castes, in case the proposal could not be tabled in the ongoing session.
He also hoped that the Opposition parties — the BJP and the Janata Dal (S) — would extend their support to the demand and also pressure the government to table the proposal to avoid facing the wrath of the Dalits in the elections.
