A delegation of Vokkaliga leaders of the Congress met Adichunchanagiri pontiff Nirmalanandanatha Swami on Sunday to discuss their community’s demand for a hike in reservation.
The Vokkaligas, estimated to account for 16 per cent of the state’s population, currently come under OBC Category 3A with a 4 per cent reservation. The community wants the quantum of reservation to be hiked to 12 per cent.
Congress’ Vokkaliga leaders N Cheluvarayaswamy, T B Jayachandra, Krishna Byre Gowda, M Krishnappa, D K Suresh and G C Chandrashekhar met Nirmalanandanatha Swami.
Their meeting with the influential Vokkaliga seer came just days after the Congress leaders huddled to discuss strategy on wooing the community ahead of the Assembly polls.
“We support the demand for hike in reservation. We met the seer to request him to take leadership of this demand,” Cheluvarayaswamy told reporters.
The Congress is looking to consolidate Vokkaliga votes ahead of the Assembly polls by cutting into the JD(S) sphere of influence and BJP’s expansionist approach. The Vokkaligara Sangha has already announced a massive protest on January 23 to mount pressure on the BJP government to meet the reservation demand.
The ruling BJP, which is looking to woo the Vokkaligas, could find their reservation demand a bitter pill to swallow.