Latest news with #Seetharamu
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bhovi community seeks nomination to Legislative Council
Members of the Bhovi community have urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief, to nominate a member of their community to the Legislative Council. Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Sunday, former Chairman of the Karnataka Bhovi Development Corporation G.V. Seetharamu said it was only in 1980 when a member of their community was nominated to the Legislative Council by the Congress party. Since the nomination of R. Peeranna, former MLA for H.D. Kote, in 1980 by the then Chief Minister R. Gundu Rao, not a single member of the community has been nominated to the Council, he said. The Bhovi community comes under the Scheduled Caste (SC), and is the third largest in the 1.8 crore SC population in the State, said Mr. Seetharamu, claiming that the Bhovi community's population in Karnataka is estimated to be around 18 lakh. Even though Congress has 33 MLCs in the State Legislative Council that has a total strength of 75 seats, not a single one of them belongs to the Bhovi community, he said. Mr. Seetharamu said that from his travel across the State between the 2013 assembly elections and the 2023 elections, he had seen how the Bhovi community has stood behind the Congress party. He urged Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar to recognise the dedication of the Bhovi community to the party and nominate their member to the Council. Out of the 75 members in the Legislative Council, 25 are elected by local bodies and another 25 by the members of the Legislative Assembly. While seven others are elected from graduates' constituencies, another seven are elected from the teachers' constituencies. Another 11 members are nominated by the Governor based on the recommendation of the government.
The Hindu
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Internal reservation: Questions raised over classification of Bhovis as sub-caste instead of main caste
Former chairman of Karnataka Bhovi Development Corporation, G.V. Seetharamu, has raised questions over the classification of Bhovis as sub-caste instead of main caste during the ongoing survey of scheduled castes taken up ahead of the implementation of internal reservation. In a statement here on Sunday, Mr. Seetharamu, who is also a spokesperson of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), alleged that the enumerators conducting the survey were often entering 'Adi Karnataka, Adi Andhra, and Adi Dravida' first as the main caste and later entering Bhovi as a sub-caste, even though there is an option to enter Bhovi in the main caste/sub-caste column. 'This is causing injustice to the Bhovi/Vaddar community,' he said. Inclusion of Bhovi with 69 other sub-castes under the sub-caste column was causing 'discrimination' against our community, Mr. Seetharamu alleged. In many places, the enumerators were first recording Bhovis as Adi Karnataka under option 003 and later recording them as sub-caste under 023.1 as Bhovis, he said and pointed out that thousands of members of the Bhovi community have been registered in such a manner over the last five days. He claimed that enumerators had been instructed to record Bhovis under sub-caste only after distinguishing their main caste as Adi Karnataka. Contending that the data recorded in such a manner was 'incorrect', Mr. Seetharamu demanded that the data be re-evaluated so that all of them are considered as members of the Bhovi community. Mr. Seetharamu also sought action against the enumerators, who were adopting 'faulty' methodology, leading to 'injustice' towards the Bhovi community. The ongoing survey by the one-man commission headed by Justice H.N. Nagmohan Das will be enumerating the 101 castes under the Scheduled Castes ahead of the implementation of internal reservation. Mr. Seetharamu also raised the issue of conflicting claims over the historical classification of Adi Karnataka, Adi Dravida, and Adi Andhra. 'Some argue that these are not names of castes, while some others contend that these castes have been listed in the 1950 Presidential Order and all subsequent amendments. So, which is correct?' he questioned. Among the other issues raised by Mr. Seetharamu is the reference to Bhovis as 'ST' instead of 'SC' in the ration cards issued by the Department of Food and Civil Supplies. 'We belong to the SC community, and our caste data should be recorded as such. Instead of relying solely on ration cards, our Aadhaar cards, voter IDs, or caste certificates should be accepted as valid proof,' he said. He also urged that the children and daughters-in-law living in the household are not excluded from the enumeration.
