siddaramaiah-defends-4-muslim-quota-in-k-taka

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that the Congress had “transferred” the reservation quota from backward classes to Muslims is a “blatant lie”.

 

He also defended 4 per cent reservation for Muslims under the backward classes category in Karnataka.

 

“It stems from ignorance but also indicative of his desperation born from a fear of defeat. No leader in the history of our country has ever demeaned the office of the prime minister to such a low level,” Siddaramaiah said in a post on X.

 

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that the Congress has transferred the reservation quota from backward classes and Dalits to Muslims is a blatant lie,” he said.

 

Being in a position of responsibility, Prime Minister Modi should either substantiate these “irresponsible allegations” with evidence or “apologise to the nation”, Siddaramaiah said.

 

In an election rally in Rajasthan’s Tonk on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi said the Congress has tried to extend reservation to Muslims out of the Dalit quota, and accused the party again of hatching a “deep conspiracy” to snatch people’s wealth and distribute it among a “select” group.

 

“As soon as the Congress formed the government at the Centre in 2004, one of the first things it did was to reduce the SC/ST reservation in Andhra Pradesh and give it to Muslims,” Modi said.

 

“Between 2004 and 2010, the Congress tried to implement Muslim reservation in Andhra Pradesh four times but due to legal hurdles and the awareness of the Supreme Court, it could not fulfil its intention,” he claimed.

 

It’s true that in Karnataka, Muslims have been included in the ‘2B category’ for backward classes, Siddaramaiah said, pointing out that “this is not something done now”.  It has been based on the reports of the Backward Classes Commissions starting from the one headed by L G Havanur in 1974, he said, this reservation has been in place for the past three decades.

 

“It appears that PM Modi has overlooked how the Basavaraj Bommai (previous BJP) government, with the sole intention of dividing votes based on religion before the last Assembly elections, attempted to arbitrarily amend the reservation and got reprimanded by the Supreme Court,” the CM said.

 

He further noted that the apex court has issued a stay on the decision to cancel the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims. The Supreme Court ordered that the revised reservation should not be implemented until further notice, he said.