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.
๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ข๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐น๐ถ๐บ ๐พ๐๐ผ๐๐ฎ, ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ผ๐น
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.
๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ "๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น", ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ผ๐๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐
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".
๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป โ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐โ: ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ
"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.
