Panchamasali Lingayats Quota: All eyes are on a cabinet meeting to be held by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on 29th December in Belagavi, which may come up with a possible solution.

At the convention venue close to Suvarna Vidhan Soudha on Thursday, Panchamsali Lingayat community members demanded a 2A reservation for the community as they arrived for Veerat Panchshakti Samavesh. This movement was coming to a natural conclusion.

Panchamasali Lingayats sub-sect activists are on the march as part of a two-year-old agitation to seek a portion of the 15% OBC reservation in place of the current 5% quota for Lingayats. If their demand is not met, they threatened to lay siege to the Karnataka legislature in Belagavi.

When hundreds of their activists plan to march to the state legislature in Belagavi on Thursday to press for their demand, the nearly two-year-old Panchamasali Lingayats agitation for reservation launched by a prominent sub-sect of the dominant Lingayat community in Karnataka may reach a boiling point. Instead of the distinct 5% quota provided to Lingayats, the Panchamasali activists want a piece of the 15% reservation given to Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the state.

The Panchamasali Lingayats activists, led by seer Jaya Mruthyunjay Swamy, started a march to the Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi, where the Karnataka legislature’s winter session is taking place, on Tuesday. They arrived at the border of Belagavi on Wednesday. They have the backing of several Panchamasali BJP MLAs and ministers who are part of the ruling party. Despite the BJP’s pledges, they are threatening to occupy the state assembly complex permanently if their quota demand is not satisfied this week.

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