Siddaramaiah woos Nayaka community with reservation

Tumkur: With an eye on Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday sought the support of members of Nayaka community, and assured them reservation based on their population.

Addressing the ‘Valmiki Jananga Samavesha’ here on Saturday, he said “We request you people to extend your support in Lok Sabha elections just as you did during the recent Assembly elections.”
In the Assembly elections held last year, the Congress bagged four out of six As­sembly seats in Chitradurga district.

Nayakas, who constitute the second largest com­munity in Chitradurga Lok Sabha constituency, play a significant role in all elections. The Chief Mini­ster made the appeal to voters of this community keeping this factor in mind.

Participating in the Fre­edom Fighters' convention later, Mr. Siddaramaiah ass­ured to fulfill all their dem­ands including an increase in their monthly pension, sanction of bus passes to two of members of their fa­mily, and other facilities.

Mr. Sid­daramaiah told mediapersons that a m­e­eting wo­uld be held in Be­n­galuru on January 13 for co­n­stituting the Election Co­mmittee. Me­m­bers of this co­mmittee would tour the st­ate and select candidates for Lo­k Sa­bha elections. The list of pro­bable candidates wo­uld be su­bmitted to central le­aders, he added.