BJP’s Karnataka picks for Modi govt all from dominant castes, Congress finds a line of attack
The BJP's choice of four Karnataka MPs for the Narendra Modi government’s Union Council of Ministers reflects the support it received in the state from the dominant castes in the Lok Sabha polls. But this has attracted criticism from the Congress for “ignoring backward communities”.
The 17 BJP winners in Karnataka include 12 from dominant castes — five Lingayats, four Vokkaligas, and three Brahmins; and five from backward communities — two Scheduled Caste (Left) members and three Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Its ally JD(S) won two seats — a Vokkaliga and an SC — and one Cabinet berth.
In contrast, the Congress won nine Lok Sabha seats from the state, with five winners from backward communities: three from Scheduled Tribes (STs), two from SC (Right) members, one OBC, and three from the dominant castes, two Lingayats and one Vokkaliga.
However, the Lingayat community that dominates northern Karnataka and has backed the BJP over the last four decades has not found a single plum post in the ministerial council, suggesting the waning influence of the state's foremost Lingayat leader and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
The BJP has also not given representation for the most backward Dalit (Left) group, which has also traditionally backed the party in Karnataka despite two veterans from the community winning their election amid a strong challenge from the Congress.
The Vokkaligas in the Union Council of Ministers are H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) who has got a Cabinet berth and BJP's Shobha Karandlaje who has got a Minister of State (MoS) post. She also covers the women's quota requirement. In addition, Pralhad Joshi, a Brahmin, has been picked again for a Cabinet post and V Somanna, a Lingayat, has been given an MoS post. With the addition of Karnataka Rajya Sabha member Nirmala Sitharaman, a Brahmin, the BJP has in total five ministers from the state in the Union Cabinet, all dominant castes.
However, seven-time BJP MP Ramesh Jigajinagi from the most backward SC (Left) community, who won the Bijapur (SC-reserved) seat on a BJP ticket for the fourth consecutive time, is not there in the Cabinet. Neither is former Deputy CM Govind Karjol who won the Chitradurga (SC-reserved) seat with JD(S) support that tilted the scales in his favour by 48,000 votes.
Over the last couple of days, Congress leaders have criticised the skew in the BJP's choice of ministers from the state. “The Union Cabinet is proof that your (BJP's) concern for Dalits is fake. Not a single Dalit or backward community leader from the state has been appointed in this Cabinet," Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said on June 10.
"It seems they don't want the Backward and Dalit communities. Many from these communities have been elected from their party. It is their decision, but it's apparent that these communities have been neglected,” said state Home Minister G Parameshwara.
Two SC (Left) candidates won on BJP tickets despite fears among the community — which has backed the BJP in recent times — that the party would use a brute majority to end reservation by changing the Constitution. The fear is being attributed to a lower inclination among the community to vote for the BJP this time.
Meanwhile, the Congress rode the same fears and Mallikarjun Kharge's elevation as party president to have two MPs from Dalit communities — Radhakrishna Doddamani from Gulbarga and Sunil Bose from Chamarajnagar — both of whom are from the SC (Right) community. This community, to which Kharge belongs, is considered to have benefited the most from the rights guaranteed to backward communities in the Constitution.
The BJP's decision to reward veteran V Somanna as the lone Lingayat member in the Council of Ministers has also raised eyebrows, as he has little parliamentary experience. There are four other Lingayat winners in the BJP: former CMs Jagadish Shettar and Basavaraj Bommai, five-time Bagalkot MP P C Gaddigoudar, and four-time Shimoga MP B Y Raghavendra, Yediyurappa's son.
Somanna has been rewarded for the political risks he has taken on behalf of the BJP and for working in tandem with the JD(S) to win the Tumkur Lok Sabha seat, beating anti-incumbency against the party's sitting MP G S Basavaraj who he replaced.
BJP leaders said the lesser prominence for Lingayats and Yediyurappa in the new Union Council of Ministers is because Lingayats are already occupying prime party positions in the state unit, including Vijayendra as the state party chief.
“The selection of the most experienced, active and committed people in Modi's Cabinet this time has created hope that people's expectations and Modi's ambitious programmes will be achieved successfully," Vijayendra said in a social media post.
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