Pressure from various caste groups for ticket is playing out in the Congress, with ‘Left’ Dalit leaders seeking a bigger share in the reserved constituencies for Scheduled Castes. This comes days after the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayat community leaders sought more ticket for candidates from the community.
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The central election committee of the Congress is set to meet in a couple of days to finalise the first list of candidates. On Tuesday, a delegation led by former Minister H. Anjaneya met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi seeking a bigger share for the candidates from the ‘Left’ Dalit communities. Among others present were Rajya Sabha MP L. Hanumanthaiah, former Minister R.B. Thimmapur, and former MP from Chitradurga B.N. Chandrappa.
Hiked quota
The development comes in the backdrop of speculation that the BJP government is expected to forward a proposal for internal reservation among the SCs, a long pending demand of the ‘Left’ Dalit groups. Already, the BJP government has increased the reservation quota in education and employment from 15% to 17% for SCs and from 3% to 7% for Scheduled Tribes, which is believed to have brought pressure on the Congress. “We are seeking more seats for the ‘Left’ Dalits since the communities are socially, educationally and politically backward. We are seeking at least 15 seats this time,” Mr. Anjaneya told The Hindu.
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Another Left leader and former Union Minister K.H. Muniyappa said that candidates should be strategically fielded in constituencies to send a strong message across communities that will help the party too.
Skewed representation
Congress sources said that the ‘Left’ Dalits have pointed out at the skewed way of representation among the SCs in the reserved constituencies by citing Habballi-Dharwad East constituency and Pavagada constituency among others. While they claim that their population is high in the two constituencies, they are represented by ‘Right’ Dalit and Bhovi, respectively. Sources said that traditionally, candidates from ‘Right’ Dalit communities get a bigger share to contest from 36 SC reserved constituencies across the State, and normally 11 to 12 seats are given to ‘Left’ Dalits.
While the ‘Left’ Dalit communities are believed to be in higher numbers in Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Ballari, and Raichur districts, ‘Right’ Dalit communities are spread in the Old Mysuru districts of Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, and Mandya among others.
On the political reading that the ‘Left’ Dalit communities have been voting for the BJP, Congress sources said there were instances of ‘Right’ Dalits too voting for BJP, and cited examples of former Union Minister V. Srinivas Prasad and his son-in-law B. Harshavardhan getting elected on BJP ticket from Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha and Nanjangud Assembly constituencies, respectively. “With a strong anti-incumbency now, the votes are amenable for conversion in favour of the Congress,” sources claimed.