Despite resistance from the BJP and doubts expressed by his own party, former Prime Minister and Janata Dal(S) President H D Deve Gowda has decided to campaign for a change in the reservation pattern for OBCs in Karnataka. The former PM, in a message to an OBC community—the Tigalas—this week said he would intensify his campaign for changes in the reservation pattern for OBCs.

Gowda is seeking to spread more evenly the 32 per cent reservations available to nearly 203 OBC communities in Karnataka in Government jobs and educational institutions by modifying the existing OBC reservation pattern.

The OBCs make up over 60 per cent of the population in Karnataka, including Muslims. They are sub-divided into categories with 95 communities in Category I (4 per cent), 102 in Category II A (15 per cent), Muslims in Category II B (4 per cent), three in Category III A (4 per cent) and two in Category III B (5 per cent).

The internal reservation, currently being proposed by Gowda, is aimed at reducing the reservation for Category II A, where communities like the Kurubas and Idigas have reportedly got most of the quota benefits. He is proposing a reduction of Category II A reservation from 15 per cent to 4 per cent while increasing the reservation for other categories.

Several prominent leaders outside the JD(S), including former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah—who recently quit the party to join the Congress—hail from the Kuruba or the herding community. The internal reservation strategy being propagated by Gowda is widely seen as an attempt to engineer the OBC vote base back in favour of the JD(S).

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