Expressing satisfaction over the State Cabinet’s new reservation matrix announced on Friday, Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami, honorary president of the Panchamasali reservation agitation committee and seer of the Lingayat Panchamasali Peetha of Kudalasangama, on Saturday announced that the 71-day stir has been withdrawn.
Although the seer said it was an unanimous decision to withdraw the quota stir, a section of the committee members led by former MLA and Congress leader Vijayanand Kashappanavar, who is the national president of the agitation committee, said they were unhappy with the government’s reservation matrix.
Chaos at press meet
There was chaos at the press conference when supporters of BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Mr. Kashappanavar got involved in an argument over the issue. However, the situation was brought under control following the seer’s intervention.
“While our demand was for inclusion in 2A, the community, along with other sects of Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, has now been put in the newly created 2D category. This is not what we wanted. We had asked for 15% reservation and have got only 7%,” Mr. Kashappanavar said.
Alleging that the 2D reservation was just an election gimmick by the BJP government, Mr. Kashappanavar said he would step down from the national president’s post in protest.
‘Snatching reservation’
He also objected to the government moving Muslims from 2A to the Economically weaker Sections (EWS) quota. “It is not fair to snatch the reservation of another community to give it to us. It is an injustice to that community,” he said.
Addressing presspersons, the seer said the committee had decided to withdraw the stir as of now in the wake of elections. “We will discuss and decide on whether to further seek enhanced reservation for the community after the elections. We have been pushed from 3B to 2D category of the Backward Classes list and the reservation for our community has been increased from 5% to 7%. Although we are yet to get the government notification in this regard, this is our initial victory,” the seer said.
Dismissing contrary views expressed by Mr. Kashappanavar, he said the committee had taken the decision to withdraw the stir unanimously.