CAUGHT IN THE QUOTA

Siddaramaiah finds himself on the back foot after being forced to put the job reservation bill on hold

- PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

CHIEF MINISTER SIDDARAMAI -

AH is known for his affinity towards Kannada nela (land), jala (water) and bhashe (language) since the time he served as the first chairman of the Kannada Kavalu Samiti (Kannada watch committee) in the mid-1980s to supervise the implementation of Kannada as Karnataka’s official language.

Four decades later, he finds himself in a mess after pushing for a long pending bill on job quota for Kannadigas in the private sector. The bill mandates job quota for locals—50 per cent reservation in administrative posts, 75 per cent for non-administrative posts and 100 per cent for grade C and D jobs. Following a pushback from the industries, however, Siddaramaiah was forced to put the bill on hold. It was not tabled in the assembly, as the government cited the need for “wider consultations”.

During his first stint as chief minister (2013-2018), Siddaramaiah had made Kannada a compulsory subject in schools and colleges. He tackled the BJP’s nationalism card and the JD(S)’s regionalism card by espousing the Kannada identity. He proposed a Kannada flag for the state and fought against what he felt was the Centre’s “imposition” of Hindi. He had serious reservations about the metro train network in Bengaluru using Hindi on signboards, too.