‘RSS plotting to divide Kuruba community’

December 01, 2020 10:36 pm | Updated 10:36 pm IST

Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah participating in an interaction programme with journalists in Mysuru On Thursday.

Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah participating in an interaction programme with journalists in Mysuru On Thursday.

Under the pretext of providing Schedule Tribe (ST) tag for the Kuruba community, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is plotting to divide the Kuruba community, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah alleged on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference here, the former Chief Minister alleged that in the name of providing quota for the Kuruba community, RSS leaders such as B.L. Santosh and Dattatreya Hosabale have been using RDPR Minister K.S. Eshwarappa to split the community.

“The RSS or the BJP have never backed any community’s struggle for reservation. There was no sincere attempt on the part of the BJP or RSS leaders to provide ST tag to the community,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said. He added that there was an effort to mislead and create confusion in the community now using Mr. Eshwarappa.

Earlier demand unmet

Mr. Siddaramaiah, who also belongs to the community, said the State government had recommended to the Centre to provide ST tag for the Rajagonda community residing in Bidar, Kalaburagi, and Yadgir districts. However, the Central government had not provided ST tag to the community in the last six years, he pointed out.

The government’s recommendation to include Koli and Golla communities in the ST category had not been considered by the Centre, he added.

Noting that the RSS and the BJP had not been supportive of reservation, he said instead of including the Kuruba community in the ST category, the Centre should increase the ST quota from 3% to 20%. The State government should also accept the caste census report first before provoking the Kurubas to fight seeking quota under the ST list, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

Delegation meets

Meanwhile, a delegation of Muslim community leaders met Mr. Siddaramaiah and submitted a memorandum opposing the proposed anti-cow slaughter Bill expected to be tabled in the coming legislature session.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.