September 19, 2025

Bengaluru is buzzing with drama as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s big plan to add the Kuruba community to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list hit a sudden wall. A crucial meeting on Tuesday by the ST welfare department to discuss bringing Kurubas from Bidar, Kalaburagi, and Yadgir into the ST fold was abruptly scrapped. Why? The powerful Valmiki community, led by Valmiki Peeta pontiff Valmiki Prasannananda Swami, called Siddaramaiah with big concerns. Soon after, Siddaramaiah told officials to stop the meeting cold. This unexpected move lit up fresh debates about who gets included in the prized ST list. The heart of the trouble: Valmiki and Nayaka communities don’t want to share the 7% ST reservation pie with Kurubas, a shepherd caste that Siddaramaiah belongs to. Karnataka already lists 50 castes as ST, including Valmiki and Nayaka, who managed to boost the reservation from 3% to 7% just last year. Kurubas are a huge community—about 9.5% of Karnataka’s 6.5 crore people. Adding them to the ST list could shake up the reservation game big time. Valmiki leader and former Congress MP VS Ugrappa said firmly, “We have no objection to including any caste in the ST list, but the govt must fulfil three conditions. It must first conduct an ethnographic study to ensure these castes possess a tribal character. Second, it must ensure that the quantum of reservation the particular caste presently enjoys is transferred to the overall ST quota. Finally, the number of assembly and Lok Sabha seats reserved for STs should proportionately be increased.” This stiff resistance from Valmiki and Nayaka leaders places the government in a tricky spot. Remember, these communities were the backbone of Congress wins in 14 out of 15 ST-reserved assembly seats last year and both ST Lok Sabha seats in 2024. Other top Valmiki figures, like PWD minister Satish Jarkiholi, have spoken out against this move. The hurt runs deeper, as the community is unhappy over important leaders B Nagendra and KN Rajanna being dropped from the cabinet. Meanwhile, some Kuruba voices are getting restless over the delay. Senior MLC and Kuruba leader AH Viswanath called out Siddaramaiah, saying, “Siddaramaiah is making a fool of Kurubas. While his govt has not done anything to get the ST tag for the community all these days, he suddenly brought the issue to the fore. This is his ploy to circumvent a power-sharing pact, according to which he must hand over the CM post to his deputy DK Shivakumar in Nov. He is just trying to blackmail the Congress high command.” But many Kurubas, including former deputy CM KS Eshwarappa and Parsannananda Puri Swami—who led a massive 335-km march from Keginele to Bengaluru in 2020—want the push to go on. Eshwarappa reassured, “Valmiki representatives need not be worried. While we want the ST tag for Kurubas, let the govt increase ST quota proportionately after adding our community.” Today, Kurubas fall under the 2A category of Other Backward Classes (OBC) with a 15% reservation, but they only claim about 7% of that share. Leaders suggest once Kurubas join the ST list, the overall ST reservation should jump to 14% to keep things balanced. So, will Karnataka’s reservation saga see a spicy new twist? The Kurubas are ready for their big break, but the Valmikis and Nayakas are standing firm. The political pot is boiling hotter than ever!

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Tags: Kuruba community, Scheduled tribes, Valmiki community, Karnataka politics, Siddaramaiah, Reservation debate,