AMN / WEB DESK
The Karnataka government scrapped the 4% reservation given to Muslims as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not believe in appeasement politics, Union minister Amit Shah said on Sunday, describing the quota as constitutionally invalid.
Union minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the Karnataka government scrapped the 4% reservation given to Muslims as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not believe in appeasement politics. He described the quota as constitutionally invalid.
On Friday, Karnataka hiked the reservation given to the Lingayat, Vokkaliga communities but scrapped a separate quota for Muslims in a politically significant move just months before high-stakes assembly elections are due.
Shah said the previous government led by Congress gave the reservation for the Muslim community for political gains. “The reservation for minorities is not Constitutionally valid. There is no provision in the Constitution to give reservation based on religion,” he said, while addressing two rallies — in Gorata village in Bidar district and Gabbur in Raichur district.
In Friday’s decision, the 4% reservation for Muslims under the OBC quota was scrapped and distributed equally among the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.
Lingayats, who make up 17% of the state, and Vokkaligas, who comprise 15%, are two of Karnataka’s most powerful communities and their backing is critical across a large swathe of constituencies. The ruling BJP is looking to retain power by staving off a challenge from the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular).
“The BJP does not believe in appeasement. So, it decided to change the reservation,” Shah said.
The state government led by HD Deve Gowda, in 1994, fixed the reservation for Muslims in the state at 4%, and an order to this effect was passed in 1995.
The state has four categories of other backward classes — 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B based on economic, social and educational status. These communities get preferential reservations in jobs and educational institutions based on the categories. The 2A category includes the most backward, followed by 2B, 3A and 3B.