Local bodies election after giving reservation to BCs: Bommai

Bengaluru, March 23 : The all-party meeting held on Wednesday unanimously decided to hold elections for local bodies after providing reservation for backward classes, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bommai said political backwardness of backward classes should be identified and a commission should be constituted for this purpose. “Appropriate measures will be taken in the backdrop of the recent Supreme Court order,” he said. The Supreme Court in its recent order quashed the 27 percent quota for OBCs in local body elections. A meeting would again be convened by the end of this month and a final decision would be taken in this regard in the presence of leaders of the opposition, Bommai said. “At today’s meeting we discussed in detail possible measures to provide reservation for Backward Classes and how to conduct the elections in the backdrop of the SC order. The Advocate General explained the legal aspects,” Bommai said. “We have the options of conducting elections after constituting a commission and getting its report or to file a review petition in the Supreme Court. But it is impossible to hold elections without reservation for Backward Classes,” he said. The meeting also discussed increasing the reservation for STs to 7.5 percent in accordance with the demand of the comm ty, Bommai said. The previous government had constituted the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission in this regard and had submitted its report to the previous BS Yediyurappa’s government, he said. “The commission has recommended increasing the SC, ST reservation quota. We have to make a decision accordingly. We have decided to deliver social justice for these comm ties by increasing their reservation quota in the backdrop of Justice Nagamohan Das report, judgements in Maharashtra’s Jayashree Patil case, Indira Sahney case and also getting an interim report from Justice Subash Adi,” Bommai said. If reservation has to be provided, it has to be in accordance with the Constitutional provisions and Supreme Court order, he said. The Advocate General has been asked to submit a report in this regard which would be placed before the next all-party meeting and their consent would be obtained, Bommai said. “There is demand from the Kuruba comm ty which belongs to Category 2A for inclusion into the ST list, some of the 3B Category comm ties want to be included into 2A Category,” he said. “In this regard we have to move step by step. There is also the issue of a 50 percent ceiling on quota, whether we should cross it and how to go about it legally,” Bommai added. A consensus emerged at the meeting on rendering justice for Scheduled Tribes, CM said. BDN SHK2333