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Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) chief Narayana Gowda also warned the state government that it will stage a massive revolt if the bill isn’t passed in the assembly.
The Karnataka job reservation row is seemingly graduating to become an unending affair. Now, a local pro-Kannada outfit has issued a threat against the former CEO of IT giant Infosys for voicing his views against the reservation bill.
Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) chief Narayana Gowda slammed Mohandas Pai for calling the bill ‘fascist’ that would have mandated the reservation of 50 per cent of management jobs and 75 per cent of non-management jobs for Kannadigas in entire public and private sectors. The state government had to roll back the controversial bill after severe backlash.
Gowda also warned the state government that it would stage a massive revolt if the bill wasn’t passed in the assembly. Reacting to Pai’s statement against the bill, the KRV chief said, “Who is Mohandas Pai? He had earned crores of rupees in Karnataka, and now he is threatening Kannadigas. The people of Karnataka are observing everything, and they will not tolerate it. CM Siddaramaiah must stand with the people of the state in this issue.”
KRV, a radical outfit that claims to be fighting for the rights of locals, says it has been advocating for local job reservation bills for the last four decades.
“If the bill is not passed, the entire state will revolt against the government,” he warned.
He also alleged that IT companies in the state colluded to press the government to roll back the bill.
“Soon after the cabinet approved the Bill, IT companies in Bengaluru threatened relocation. I suspect that these companies approached ‘high command,’ resulting in pausing the Bill,” he added.
Watch: Karnataka Govt puts job quota bill on hold; CM deletes post on 100 % jobs for locals
The bill last week got approval from the state cabinet but faced resistance from the mighty IT sector and prominent faces.
Mohandas Pai also took to X to voice his opposition. He wrote, ” This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive and against the constitution @Jairam_Ramesh is govt to certify who we are? This is a fascist bill as in Animal Farm, It is unbelievable that @INCIndia can come up with a bill like this- a govt officer will sit on recruitment committees of the private sector? People have to take a language test?”
Karnataka is a major IT-hub of India and also hosts its own Silicon Valley in the capital city of Bengaluru.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Vikrant Singh
Geopolitical writer at WION, follows Indian foreign policy and world politics, a truth seeker.