BJP slams Karnataka Cong over alleged 4% Muslim quota in govt contracts

State BJP president B Y Vijayendra alleged that while development work across the state had come to a halt, the Congress government is focused on extending reservations to religious minorities

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the ruling Congress government in Karnataka of planning to introduce a 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts. On Wednesday, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra alleged that while development work across the state had come to a halt, the Congress government was focused on giving reservations to minorities.

 

“When all the development work across the state has come to a halt, the ruling Congress has decided to present before the Cabinet a proposal to give 4 per cent reservation in government contracts to minorities,” Vijayendra said.

 

He also questioned why the term ‘minority’ was always linked only to Muslims. “Should minority mean only Muslims and not anyone else? The minority appeasement policies of the Congress will create disturbance in society,” he told reporters.

 

Vijayendra said, if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah cared about backward communities, he should introduce policies that empower them. He urged people to “teach Siddaramaiah a lesson” for his alleged appeasement politics.

 

BJP leader and Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal also criticised the Congress government, calling the proposed reservation “anti-Constitutional”. “The government is going against the Constitution and its basic fundamentals,” Yatnal alleged. He also alleged that Dr B R Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, was against the minority welfare department. The BJP leaders said they would raise this issue in the ongoing Karnataka Assembly. The government has not yet issued a response.

 

BJP abolished Muslim quota

 

In March 2023, the previous BJP government, led by then-Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, had abolished the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims under the 2B category of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota. This quota was redistributed equally between the Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities, creating two new reservation categories: 2C and 2D. 

 

Consequently, Muslims were moved to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category, where they could compete for a 10 per cent reservation. 

 

However, in December 2024, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah indicated that the state government might reinstate the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims under the 2B category of the OBC list. 

 

[With inputs from PTI]