Mysore/Mysuru: Maintaining that the right hand group among SC communities and the congress party’s false campaign has been a hurdle for internal (inner) reservation, retired IAS Officer B.H. Anilkumar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has responded to Madiga Samaja’s movement, which has brought hope to Madiga community.

He was speaking at ‘Madiga Munnade’, a District level self-esteem convention of Madiga community organised by Madiga Meesalati Horata Samiti at Leela Channaiah Kalyana Mantapa on Valmiki Road in Paduvarahalli here yesterday.

Asserting that the Madiga community will get justice with the implementation of internal reservation among SC communities, Anil Kumar said that PM Modi responded positively to the Madiga community demand at a recent convention held at Hyderabad.

Contending that the BJP Government has provided many facilities to Madiga samaja, he wondered what was wrong if the community supported the party.

“The Madiga community has not been able to reap the benefits of reservation and only the influential are getting reservation. Though the community has been fighting for internal reservation for decades, it has not been successful. The political parties are using the community only for po litical gains”, he regretted.

Noting that the CM Siddaramaiah’s Government did not implement the recommendations of Justice A.J. Sadashiva Commission, he said the Congress Government is now misleading the people and engaged in creating rift between communities, he added.

Former Minister and community leader Kote M. Shivanna said that the convention is aimed at creating awareness on internal reservation. He called upon the community leaders to sensitise the community members in every village about the benefits of internal reservation and why they need it.

Former MLC C. Ramesh said that some elements are leading a misleading campaign against the convention and nobody should pay heed to it.

Senior Advocate S. Arun Kumar who also spoke, said that a 7-member bench of the Supreme Court will be hearing the petition concerning internal reservation on Jan. 17, 2024. Expressing the hope that the SC bench will give a favourable verdict for Madigas in the case, he said the then Government in undivided Andhra Pradesh had introduced internal reservation saying that there was a provision for it within the Legal framework. But one group of SC community challenged the Government’s decision and moved the AP High Court, but the Court upheld the Government’s decision, following which the opposing group moved the Supreme Court, when a 5-member SC bench headed by Justice Santosh Hegde ordered that the internal reservation was illegal.

Subsequently, the SC received similar petitions from Punjab and Haryana, following which the matter came up before the 5-member SC bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra. This bench ruled that the internal reservation was within the ambit of Law. But as the Five-member bench led by Justice Santosh Hegde had earlier ruled that the internal reservation was not within the ambit of law, the matter has been referred to a 7-member SC bench, which is scheduled to hear the petition on Jan. 17, 2024.

Community leaders Ballari Hanumanthu, Arakalawadi Nagendra, Venkatesh, Vijayalakshmi, Srinivas, Dasaiah, Madhuraj, Prakash and others were present.