Bengaluru: In a series of interviews with several media houses, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that the Congress is misguiding Muslims over government’s move to remove the quota for the community, and distribute it to the dominant Lingayats and Vokkaligas.
Giving an insight into the debatable issue, Bommai said there are 17 sub-castes in the poorest of poor Muslims, and all of them have not been removed, but from 4 per cent they have been given 10 per cent reservation.
“Among Muslims there are 17 sub-castes who are very very poor. They have not been removed. They are there in the list … The criterion has not changed. In fact, from 4 per cent we have given them 10 per cent. They
(Muslims) are better off. Congress is misleading them,” he said here on Wednesday.
The Karnataka government had scrapped the 4 per cent quota of Muslims under the 2B category, and equitably distributed it to the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, triggering a controversy of ignoring minorities from receiving benefits under 2B category.
Bommai also mentioned an article published in a popular daily, lauding the BJP government’s step to provide security to Muslims and asking other states like Tamil Nadu to implement it.
The Supreme Court had asked the government to not implement the amended quota system until the next hearing.
The government has taken into consideration the cultural factors to hike reservations to Lingayats and Vokkaligas, Bommai said.
The HD Deve Gowda government in 1994 had fixed the reservation for Muslims in Karnataka at 4 per cent, and an order to this effect was passed in 1995.
