Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs HK Patil | Photo credit: file photo
The much-awaited special cabinet meeting to resolve differences over internal reservation among the 101 scheduled castes, which was scheduled to be held on Friday, has been postponed to more than 9 April. The decision came after Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty pointed out that any decision taken would be against the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in force for the South Baganger assembly elections held in South Baganger.
Informal discussion
Shortly after the regular cabinet meeting on Thursday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held an informal meeting with ministers from the right-wing and left-wing Dalit communities, where minister KH Muniyappa, who belongs to the Dalit left, was learned to have been pressing for the meeting.
In the end, it was decided to postpone the special cabinet meeting beyond April 9, when voting on the general election would have ended.
“The cabinet has decided that in view of the MCC, the special cabinet (meeting) will have to be postponed. Even if there was room for discussion, what is the point if no decision can be made?” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil told reporters on Thursday.
A special cabinet meeting has been called to decide on internal reservation under the 15% quota for SCs as the state government has started recruitment to fill 56,432 posts. While the Dalit Left seeks internal reservation within 15%, the Dalit Right and SC “touchable” communities oppose it.
Miscellaneous notes
Meanwhile, government ministers have made various comments on internal reservation in recruitment. While Mr. Patil said that the recruitment process will continue as notified (for 15% reservation and no internal reservation), Mr. Muniyappa said that without internal reservation, the recruitment will not take place. According to Mr. Muniyappa, it was not possible to issue the recruitment notification due to MCC.
Stating that the government was determined to implement the internal reservation, Mr. Muniyappa appealed to the community leaders not to start any agitation till the cabinet meets again and decides on the issue. “There is no point in taking a decision on an internal reservation which can be blocked by the Election Commission. I have also discussed the matter with the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. We will get adequate reservation in the sub-class,” he said.
Published – 26 March 2026 23:25 IST
