NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday alleged that the Congress provided 4 per cent reservation to Muslims in Karnataka in an “unconstitutional manner” and that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state had put an end to the practice.
Speaking at a media conclave, organised by a media house, Shah said that the BJP ended the “special favour” meant for “scoring political points” and gave the rights to persons deserving the reservation, the OBCs. The Home Minister said that the Constitution does not allow reservation on the basis of religion and slammed the Congress for doing so.
Speaking at the conclave, Shah said, “As far as justice is concerned with the social point of view, the Congress government had given 4 per cent Muslim reservation in an unconstitutional manner in Karnataka. It was unconstitutional because our Constitution does not approve reservation based on religion, but it was prevailing in Karnataka”.
“The state government scrapped the 4 per cent reservations for Muslims and increased the reservation for SCs, STs, Vokkaligas and Lingayats. We have ended the special favour meant for scoring political points. We brought the Constitution to order and gave the rights to those deserving”, Shah said.
Earlier this March, the Karnataka government decided to scrap the 4 per cent quota for minorities and add it to the existing quota of two dominant communities of the poll-bound state. The 4 per cent reservation given to Muslims under the 2B classification of the OBC category was divided into two equal parts and added to the existing quota of Vokkaligas and Lingayats for whom two new reservation categories of 2C and 2D were created during the Belagavi Assembly session last year.
The state government’s move was slammed by the Opposition and the Congress vowed to cancel the move if it comes to power in the upcoming Assembly elections slated on May 10. “As soon as our government comes, we will cancel the reservation issue and will protect the minority interest”, state Congress president D K Shivakumar had said.
On April 14, senior leader and former Chief Minister M Veerappa Moily, who introduced the 4 per cent reservation, said that it given to Muslims in his regime on a scientific basis and not on the basis of religion. “The reservation was given by me when I was CM in 1993 and it was done on basis of scientific data and not on the basis of religion. Muslims, as a class, were included in the backward category and it was absolutely legal. When we took the decision as the data was there. The BJP has scrapped this reservation without any report”.
Veerappa Moily further stated that the Congress will restore the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims under OBC quota after coming back to power in Karnataka. “We will restore it once we come back to power. This decision was unjustified and unscientific”, he said. (ANI)