Amidst outrage over the Congress government in Karnataka reportedly considering offering 4% reservations to the Muslim community in public contracts valued at Rs 1 crore, the Karnataka government has denied the reports. On Wednesday (13th November), the CM Siddaramaiah-led government issued a statement saying that no such proposal was under the government’s consideration. However, the Chief Minister admitted that a demand in this regard was raised.
“Reports have been published in some media that a proposal to give reservations to Muslims in jobs is before the government. However, it has been clarified that there is no proposal before the government in this regard,” the Karnataka Chief Minister’s office reportedly said.
Currently, Karnataka has reservations in civil works contracts for SC/STS, 24%, and OBC contractors from Category-1, 4%, and Category-2A, 15%. All of this notably adds up to 43%. It was reported that a demand to add Muslims to Category-2B with a 4% reservation is being considered by the Congress government.
Is the Congress government taking a U-turn on the Muslim reservations proposal?
While the Karnataka government is now rejecting the reports of it considering a proposal for Muslim reservations in public works contracts, the documents suggest that not only the demand for Muslim reservations were made but a proposal regarding the same was also under the government’s consideration.
In an X post, Network18’s Consulting Editor Rahul Shivshankar shared the said document which contained CM Siddaramaiah’s signature. Shivshankar added that on 31st August, the chief minister himself asked the file to be “put up” and signed on the request letter and in October, the finance department prepared a note for amending Section 6 of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (KTPP) Act to include Category-2B (Muslims) under reservation in contracts.
“The documents indicate that on August 24 this year at least a dozen Muslim Congress MLAs and MLCs signed a petition asking Siddaramaiah to provide reservation in contracts to “economically and socially backward” Muslims under Category-2B of the OBCs. The move was spearheaded by CM’s political secretary MLC Naseer. On August 31, Siddaramaiah asked the file to be “put up” and signed on the request letter. By third week of October, a note was prepared by the finance department for amending Section 6 of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (KTPP) Act to include Category-2B (Muslims) under reservation in contracts. Red dot in the middle of the document is CM’s remarks with signature and seal,” Shivshankar said.
Mega TWIST: The Karnataka government denied reports that it was considering proposal for Muslim Quota in government tenders.
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) November 13, 2024
But EXCLUSIVE documents accessed by @harishupadhya
suggest the opposite.
In fact, the CM himself asked Muslim reservation file to be 'put up'.
The… pic.twitter.com/gt0kudWSCP
“Why did the Congress go to such lengths to deny this report when it was first published? Is it because it knows that such a step would have been opposed by Icons like Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar? In fact, the former opposed religious quotas because he thought it would prompt conversions out of Hinduism, destroying the faith,” he added.
BJP accuses the Siddaramaiah government of lying about Muslim reservation proposal
Launching a scathing attack against the Congress government over its alleged Muslim appeasement, R Ashoka, the state assembly’s opposition leader, “Siddaramaiah’s political secretary, Naseer Ahmed, along with housing and waqf minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan and other Muslim MLAs, had submitted a letter on August 24, requesting a 4% reservation in contracts for Muslims.”
The BJP leader went on to say that CM Siddaramaiah had directed the finance department to look into the proposal on the same day and that he had also approved revisions to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act in this regard.
“You approved an amendment to the KTPP Act regarding this matter. Despite all these letters and approvals, you lie, claiming there’s no proposal for Muslim reservation in contracts before the government,” Ashoka said.
ಎಡವಟ್ಟು ಮಾಡೋದು, ಆಮೇಲೆ ಸುಳ್ಳು ಹೇಳೋದು… ಇದೇ ಸಿಎಂ @siddaramaiah ನವರ ದಿನಚರಿ!
— R. Ashoka (@RAshokaBJP) November 12, 2024
ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳೇ, ಗುತ್ತಿಗೆ ಕಾಮಗಾರಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಸ್ಲಿಮರಿಗೆ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ನೀಡುವ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾವನೆಯೇ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಮುಂದಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಸತ್ಯದ ತಲೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೊಡೆದ ಹಾಗೆ ಸುಳ್ಳು ಹೇಳುತ್ತೀರಲ್ಲಾ, ತಮ್ಮ ಭಂಡತನಕ್ಕೆ ಏನು ಹೇಳೋಣ?
ಗುತ್ತಿಗೆ ಕಾಮಗಾರಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ… pic.twitter.com/Agrw9yf1Cs
Similarly, BJP National Spokesperson CR Kesavan hit out at the Congress government in Karnataka and alleged that the fresh smoking gun documents in the media had exposed that the state government was proposing a 4 percent Muslim reservation and asked why the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was lying.
VIDEO | Here's what BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan (@crkesavan) said on the Karnataka government proposing quota for Muslims in government contracts.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 13, 2024
"The Karnataka Congress government has become a dangerous blackhole of repressive religious polarisation. The media expose… pic.twitter.com/Lwa5u0RlWi
CR Kesavan said, “The Karnataka Congress government has become a dangerous black hole for regressive religious polarization. Media has exposed the communal agenda of Congress. The Karnataka government is planning and proposing the 4 percent Muslim reservation. Recently Deputy CM Shivakumar spoke about scrapping the Shakti Free Bus Scheme for women.”
