Karnataka reserves 33% urban, rural local body seats for OBCs

The Karnataka Cabinet has decided to reserve 33% seats for Other Backward Classes in urban local bodies and panchayats.

Briefing the media in Bengaluru on Thursday, law minister HK Patil said that the Justice Bhaktavatsala Commission had made five recommendations, of which the Cabinet accepted three.

The government would continue with the political reservations under A and B categories. OBCs would get reservation in 33% seats in local bodies. The overall quota, including SC/STs, however, would not exceed 50%, Patil said.


Karnataka did not have a clear policy for reservations for OBCs in elected seats to urban local bodies and panchayats and the previous BJP government had in May 2022 set up the commission headed by retired high court judge Justice K Bhaktavatsala to determine the quota.

This followed the Supreme Court verdict that political reservation should have empirical data and states could hold local body polls only after deciding seats for OBCs based on the empirical data on their population.

The commission, on its part, relied on the elaborate caste census data, prepared by the State Backward Classes Commission. The data, part of a comprehensive report, however, is still under wraps as the state government awaits clarity from the Congress high command on publicising the report.

The commission favoured reclassification of Categories A & B into four only for the purposes of political reservation to OBCs in local body elections. OBCs have a 33% quota and the same could be sliced up into categories 1, 2, 3 and 4. The first two categories could get 9.9% quota each and the subsequent two categories could get 6.6% each, the panel said.

The Cabinet also decided to reserve the posts of mayor and deputy mayor in Bengaluru civic body BBMP for OBC communities. The decision would pave the way for the conduct of elections to BBMP for which the state government has already redrawn boundaries of some wards. The government has indicated that it would hold the BBMP polls by November. If held, the polls would be a challenge for the Congress amid the Cauvery stir, drought and months before Lok Sabha elections.