The issue of 4% reservation for Muslims is gaining momentum in Karnataka, pressure on Congress government increases

Bengaluru. The issue of 4 percent reservation for Muslims in Karnataka seems to be gaining momentum again. It is reported that after the victory in the recent by-elections, pressure has started increasing on the Congress government to restore the Muslim quota. At present, nothing has been said officially by the state government about this. The Bharatiya Janata Party had abolished the quota, but this decision was stayed by the Supreme Court.

However, it is not clear yet when the quota will be restored in Karnataka. The special thing is that in the assembly elections held in the state in the year 2023, the issue of Muslim quota proved to be very important for the Congress. It played a big role in the formation of the government under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. Now the Congress has also got a big success in the by-election.

According to the information, Congress MLA from Shivajinagar Rizwan Arshad says that the quota will be restored and he calls it the right of the community. He said, ‘We have also been classified as socially and economically backward.’ He said, ‘The court had rationalized it after investigation. It cannot be taken away overnight.’ He also said that the state government is fighting a case in the Supreme Court to protect the interests of Muslims.

A newspaper has written quoting party sources that the 4 percent quota has almost been finalized, but the government is waiting for the ‘right time’. It is being said that the announcement could not be made due to the Lok Sabha and by-elections, because the government feared that it would affect the Lingayat and Vokkaliga votes. The special thing is that both the communities got the benefit of 2 percent additional quota in the BJP government.

In the year 1995, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had talked about a separate 4 percent reservation for Muslims. At the same time, it was decided to include Christians who converted to Buddhism and Scheduled Castes in category 1 and 2A of the reservation matrix. This arrangement continued till March 27, 2023. After this, the BJP government led by then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai abolished the Muslim quota. At the same time, the quota for Lingayat and Vokkaliga was increased by 2 percent.