Congress' Big Karnataka Poll Announcement: 'Will Restore 4% Muslims Quota Scrapped By BJP Govt'

Congress on Sunday said that if voted to power in the upcoming Assembly election, it will restore reservation for the Muslim community under the OBC list that has been scrapped by the BJP-led government in Karnataka.

Addressing mediapersons here Congress State President D K Shivakumar said, "I am confident that Congress will come to power after the next 45 days. We will scrap all these reservations as there is no base in this there was no report while making this decision."

He stated that the communities of Vokkaligas and Lingayats will also reject the newly offered reservation quota given to them by the BJP.

"Vokkaligas and Lingayats are people who are called `annadatas`. They plough the land and give food. They are landowners. We don`t want any of their reservation as minorities are our brothers and this is a country for all the communities. Our country is very rich in our culture. BJP has taken their 4 per cent and distributed 2 per cent each to Vokkaligas and Lingayats. The Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva Lingayats are rejecting this offer," the Congress leader said.

Shivakumar also termed as "a mockery" the current reservation system in the State under the BJP government.

"Reservation in Karnataka is a mockery. It is unconstitutional. They think reservations in the State can be distributed like their property but it is not a property it is a right. The minorities of this soil have their own rights. We don`t want their 4 per cent to be scrapped and be given to major communities," the Congress Karnataka chief said.

In a cabinet meeting held on Friday the Karnataka government scrapped the four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims and distributed it to two dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

It also decided to move OBC Muslims to the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.

While addressing a public meeting on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "Reservations provided to the minority was not as per Constitution. There is no provision in the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion."

"Congress Government due to its polarisation politics provided reservation to the minority. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) scrapped that reservation and provided reservations to Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities," he added. (ANI)