The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Striking a caste balance

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Saturday, May 31, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Striking a caste balance

Nagesh Prabhu

Seven Ministers belong to the Lingayat community
Five Ministers represent Bangalore city

BANGALORE: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on Friday struck a deft balance among various castes and communities while finalising his 30-member Cabinet. Ministry formation in Karnataka is a Herculean task given the nature of the large number of castes and sub-castes that make up political formations.

Seven Ministers belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), one to a Scheduled Tribe (ST) and three to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), were inducted into the Cabinet. This is obviously intended to justify the BJP’s oft repeated statement that it is keen on rendering social justice. These eleven Ministers put together constitute more than 35 per cent of the Cabinet.

The Chief Minister has played a “please-all” card by providing representation to even small communities such as Jains and Vysyas. He has inducted Mumtaz Ali Khan, who is not a member of either House of the State legislature, and thereby justified his pledge that he would take oath along with a Muslim.

Mr. Yeddyurappa has sought to bolster his supremacy in Ministry formation by packing the team with his own loyalists in preference to the followers of BJP general secretary and MP H.N. Ananth Kumar. At the outset, the Cabinet appears to be a “blend of experience and youth.” Yet, several party seniors have not found berths in the Ministry and the Chief Minister has his task cut out when he expands his Cabinet. Already, there are rumblings and hints of dissidence by seniors who have not made it to the cabinet.

With regard to caste composition, seven Ministers — C.M. Udasi, S.A. Ravindranath (Ministers in the Kumaraswamy Government), and new faces — Basavaraj Bommai, M. Rudrappa Nirani, Lakshman Savadi, S.K. Bellubbi, and the Chief Minister himself, belong to the dominant Lingayat community The party had given ticket to 71 Lingayat candidates and of them 38 had won. The seven Ministers belonging to the Scheduled Castes are Govind M. Karjol, Revu Naik Belamagi, Aravind Limbavali, Goolihati D. Shekar, Shivaraj Tangadagi, P.M. Narendra Swamy and Venkataramanappa. Except Mr. Karjol and Mr. Naik, rest of them are first-time Ministers. The party had given tickets to 36 SC candidates and of them 22 had won.

The other dominant community — Vokkaliga — has been given a fair representation with the induction of four members — R. Ashok, Ramachandra Gowda (MLC), Shobha Karandlaje and B.N. Bacche Gowda.

Except Ms. Karandlaje, all others have been Ministers in the previous governments.

Brahmins and OBCs have been given three berths each. V.S. Acharya (MLC), Suresh Kumar and Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri are Brahmins. The party had fielded nine Brahmin candidates. Three OBC MLAs inducted in the Cabinet are K.S. Eshwarappa, H. Halappa and Krishna Palemar.

Like in the previous Janata Dal (Secular)-BJP Government, two brothers find place in the Cabinet and they are G. Karunakara Reddy and his younger brother G. Janardhana Reddy (MLC).

D. Sudhakar (independent elected from Hiriyur) belongs to the Jain community while Krishnaiah Setty belongs to the Vysya community. B. Sriramulu is a Scheduled Tribe.

Five Ministers represent Bangalore City while three each represent Coastal Karnataka, Bellary and Shimoga districts. No representation has been given to Chikmagalur, Raichur, Mysore, Dharwad, Chickaballapur and Bidar districts. The party has no elected MLAs from Hassan and Ramanagar districts.

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