From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Aug 4: Senior BJP leader and member of Parliament Basavaraj Bommai has demanded immediate action on
implementing internal reservation for Scheduled Castes instead of insisting on amendment of Article 341 as it would be a lame excuse and empty gesture.
He spoke to the media persons after receiving the felicitation along with another BJP leader and MP Govind Karjol, former BJP union minister Narayanaswamy and the head of Madar Channayya Guru Peetha Sri Basavamoorthy Madar Channayya
Swamiji in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The former chief minister said the seven-judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court delivered a very clear verdict on internal reservations, a matter that had raised questions for a long time. Although many states, including Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka, have reservations, justice has not been served, leading to significant protests spanning over three decades. There were also verdicts from two benches of five judges.
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He pointed out that Justice Arun Mishra had ruled that internal reservations could be granted without a constitutional amendment, while Justice Santosh Hegde stated in 2004 that internal reservations were not needed but a constitutional
amendment was necessary. "These contradictions arising out of the verdicts led to confusion, necessitating a bold decision by the governments involved, which the Supreme Court has now clarified," he said.
"We have made many historical decisions by abiding by the Constitution. We proposed to increase reservation for the SC community from 15% to 17% and for the ST community from 3% to 7%, in line with the population and with the support of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly,” he said.
Bommai said the BJP government had recommended how internal reservations should be implemented based on this principle, which the Supreme Court has now upheld.
‘’We have also delivered justice to other SC and ST communities, such as Bhovi, Lambani, Koracha, and Korama, by increasing their reservations. Some Congress supporters had approached the Supreme Court to remove these five communities from the SC list. The court had sought clarification from the SC Commission, which then sought the state's opinion. However, no government had taken a clear stance on this until we decided that since these communities have
been included in the SC list since the time of the Mysore Maharajas, they will continue to benefit from reservations as long as the system exists," Bommai said.
Asked about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's accusation that BJP hastily recommended internal reservations before elections, Bommai responded, "Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister for five years; why didn't he implement internal
reservations then? He came to the SC convention in Hubballi and left without saying a word. Ten people lost their lives during this struggle, yet nothing was done. We made a decision the day after the Cabinet Sub-Committee report was submitted. This demonstrates our commitment.’’
Cong misused Raj Bhavan most
Bommai said the ruling Congress party’s accusation that BJP was misusing Raj Bhavan to destabilise an elected government was hollow and countered it by claiming that Congress party most frequently misused the Raj more than 56 times to topple governments across the country.
He said the previous controversial Governor Hansraj Bharadwaj, had given permission to prosecute senior leader B S Yediyurappa and the case as now been dismissed.
On the Congress's claims of exposing scams from the previous government, Bommai challenged them, saying, "It is their government now. Let them conduct any investigation they want."
He accused the government of not contributing a single paisa to development and claimed that all the MLAs, the chief minister and other Congress leaders have instructed MLAs to make money from transfers. The government has institutionalised corruption and conducting transfers under that guise.
"Due to excessive demands for money, government employees are under pressure. Not only those who have died but many are under extreme pressure. They can't afford to pay the bribes. Those who do pay end up engaging in corruption," he added.