Senior leaders claimed ignorance as the bill was not discussed in a cabinet meeting, giving more ammunition to the CM's detractors within the party and the opposition. The bill, which was shortly going to be introduced in the ongoing assembly session, had to be defended by clueless Congress leaders caught off guard having to mop up after Siddaramaiah’s sudden announcement. Tweets on social platform X (formerly Twitter) were posted, deleted, and reframed to sound apologetic about a bill that seemed to threaten India’s tech capital’s workforce composition.

The quota announcement, seeking a larger share of jobs for Kannada-speaking locals was first made on Tuesday evening. After a couple of rounds of editing, CM Siddaramaiah posted on X saying: “The bill intended to implement reservation for Kannadigas in private sector institutions, industries and enterprises is still in the preparation stage. A final decision will be taken after comprehensive discussion in the next cabinet meeting.”

The bill caused much confusion within the Karnataka Congress with some of its ministers justifying such a reservation and others calling for protecting the rights of all stakeholders involved.

“The chief minister’s ill-advised move has unnecessarily brought back attention to two key scams the opposition has been trying to rake and the BJP is gunning for the CM’s scalp,” said a senior Congress leader.

Reservations against the reservation bill

Given the tense political atmosphere, the introduction of the reservation bill has dented the ruling government’s image, political analysts said. Sumanth C Raman, a noted political analyst said: “It was a diversionary tactic and the bill is a non-starter right from the beginning. The high courts in different states in Haryana, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh have struck down reservations based on domicile and have put such bills in abeyance. Companies will find it very difficult to find locals even in C and D category jobs because in southern states that are far better developed even the lower classes are better educated and are not being known to apply for lower-level jobs.”

However, the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), a politico-cultural organisation that works on issues connected to the Kannadiga community, is upset over the bill being put on hold.

DG Babu, KRV chief, said: “The government promised an 80% reservation to locals at the time of the state election. It is only fair that they implement it. We are not saying no to anyone coming from outside the state. We are only keen on protecting the interests of our youth since there is a huge problem of employment and skill development in Karnataka.”

The BJP’s state president, BY Vijayendra, has asked the ruling government to be prepared for protests by the Kannadigas. The state general secretary B Rajeev said the opposition is concerned because there has not been a single large overseas investor who brought capital investment to the state since May last year.

“With the increase in fuel, electricity, transportation, and milk prices, investors are fleeing to other states. Our state has recorded a revenue deficit for two years in a row. Another year of poor fiscal performance would mean trapping ourselves in debt. Given such a scenario, Congress has to work toward creating a healthy working atmosphere rather than a hostile one.”

The industry body CII also raised concerns over job reservations in Karnataka.

“CII applauds the government's vision to position Karnataka as Asia's hub for future tech manufacturing. However, CII strongly urges the government to reconsider the proposed job reservations, which mandate 50% for administrative and 75% for non-administrative positions for local candidates. Such drastic legislation could hinder current and future investments, jeopardising Karnataka's status as a prime location for over 400 Fortune 500 companies and nearly 39% of India's Global Capability Centers (GCCs),” a note issued by the Bangalore chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industries said.

Congress spokesperson Nivedith Alva was quick to assuage concerns. “Our government would not want to do anything that does not pass the legal test. While Karnataka retains its status as India’s prime investment destination, we will ensure that the bill is tabled in the assembly after taking into account the observations of the labour, industries, and commerce ministries. What we intended was to urge the industries in our state to consider working with the government to create jobs for the locals and absorb them.”

Deepika Amirapu is a freelance journalist based in Hyderabad.