BENGALURU: Sixteen leaders from left sects of Scheduled Castes joined Congress on Tuesday, giving a fillip to the principal opposition’s party’s plans to tap what it says is resentment among these communities against BJP.
Left sects of SCs in Karnataka are largely seen as pro-BJP.
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Karnataka Election 2023The perception is that right sects, since Independence, have managed to garner most benefits like political representation, jobs and reservation in education for marginalised castes. In Karnataka, there are about 51 subsects among Madigas who are considered left SCs.
Internal reservation is the major demand of left SCs. “The failure of the Congress government in 2013-18 to implement internal reservation angered left SCs, who voted en masse for BJP in 2018,” said Ambanna Aroli, SC left leader who joined Congress. The later BJP governments’ too failed to implement internal reservation and this has angered the community, Aroli said, adding that this anger may translate into votes against BJP.
He said there are about 60 lakh Madigas, at least 10 lakh more than right SCs (Holeyas). With both sects voting for Congress, the party has better chances of gaining a majority, he said. He, however, said that if Congress fails to give adequate tickets to left SCs, the party may have to face consequences.
Sandeep Shastri, political analyst, said that there is talk that left SCs are upset with BJP as it has failed to implement internal reservation. “But whether this will translate into votes is a question. This depends on whether community leaders manage to influence voters on a large-scale to gravitate towards the Congress,” he said.