Karnataka Polls: Congress vows to reinstate Muslim quota, calls BJP's move 'unconstitutional'

The Congress party on Sunday hit out at the BJP-led Karnataka government's move to eliminate the 4% reservation for Muslims in Category 2B of the OBC list. The Congress stated that if it comes to power after the upcoming assembly elections in May, it would reinstate the quota for the minority community.

𝗚𝗼𝘃𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗕𝗖 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗺 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗮, 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗪𝗦 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗹

During a Cabinet meeting on Friday, the government had not only scrapped the 4% OBC Muslim quota but also decided to divide the four percent quota equally between Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities, providing two percent each for job opportunities and admissions to educational institutions. The government had also moved Muslims into the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) pool.

𝗗𝗞 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 "𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹", 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗮 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

The placement of Muslims by the government into the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) pool, which comprises 10 percent, was deemed "unconstitutional" by D K Shivakumar, President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

"They (the government) think that reservation can be distributed like a property. It's not a property. It's a right (of minorities)", Shivakumar told reporters. "We don't want their four per cent to be scrapped and given to any of the major communities. They (members of the minority community) are our brothers and family members".

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 ❞𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟰𝟱 𝗱𝗮𝘆❞: 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗿

"Entire Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats are rejecting this offer," Shivakumar claimed. Exuding confidence that the Congress party will come to power in the "next 45 days", he said: "we will scrap all this" and added that there is no basis to remove Muslims from the OBC list.

He confidently asserted that the Congress party would assume power in the "upcoming 45 days" and declared that "all of this" would be abolished, while affirming that there was no justification for excluding Muslims from the OBC list.

Accusing the Bommai administration of attempting to exploit "emotional issues" due to its impending electoral defeat, Shivakumar announced his intention as party leader to affirm that the initial Cabinet meeting, following a Congress victory, would involve a resolution to reinstate the quota.