A commission led by former Karnataka High Court judge K Bhakthavatsala, to study the suitable political representation in the urban and local body elections, submitted a report to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday, July 21. The report recommended reserving 33% of the total seats in favor of Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the BBMP and panchayat raj elections.
However, it recommended that the total number of seats reserved for OBCs, Scheduled Tribes, and Scheduled Castes should not exceed 50% of the total number of seats. Based on the information from the local body elections held in 1996, 2001, 2010, and 2015, which showed that the communities that fall under Category-A and B of OBCs are still politically and socially backward, the Justice Bhaktavatsala Commission decided to set a 33% quota for the OBCs.
The commission was set up in response to a Supreme Court directive in a case concerned with providing suitable representation for backward classes in the urban and local bodies. At the all-party meetings on March 23 and March 31, the issue was addressed, and it was agreed to hold the elections for these institutions only after making provisions for these communities' reservations.
Due to an eight-week deadline imposed by the Supreme Court for the BBMP's ward delimitation procedure, the government is expected to submit the Commission's findings to the court on Friday, July 22.
The commission stated: "The State in its wisdom and authority had adopted the castes listed as OBCs for the purpose of education and employment, as well as for purposes of political reservation on the grounds that they are socially and politically backward in the State,” noting that 44.4% of the total population in Karnataka belonged to OBCs (including minorities).
Additionally, the Commission advised the government to reclassify the OBCs ."We are of the opinion that before the next local body elections in the year 2027 or 2028, the state government may review about the reclassification of Backward Classes Category - A and B, into two more categories...for the purpose of effective reservation in favour of OBCs including minorities," the report stated.
One of the Commission's four main recommendations is to revise Section 10 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act 1976 so that the term of office for the mayor and deputy mayor is changed from 12 to 30 months, as is the case for the mayor and deputy mayor of the BBMP under the BBMP Act 2020. The other recommendations include taking into account reserving the positions of mayor and deputy mayor in the BBMP for those who classify as OBCs.
The Karnataka government would be able to proceed with the urban and local body elections if the Supreme court accepts the report, just as it did on Wednesday, July 20, when it accepted the Maharashtra government's report and permitted OBCs a 27% reservation in that state.