Union Minister defends State govt. decision to scrap Muslim 2B quota, saying facility was unconstitutional

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s bold decision has helped rectify Congress mistake, says Pralhad Joshi

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has defended the State government’s decision to scrap the 4% reservation for Muslims under 2B category of backward classes, saying that it was unconstitutional.

The State government has now moved Muslims to the 10% Economically Weaker Sections quota.

“The Indian Constitution has no provision for according reservation based on religious lines. Any provision that is against the spirit of the Constitution should not be entertained. That is why it has been withdrawn,” he said.

He was speaking to journalists in Hubballi on Monday.

“Successive Congress governments and its allies have introduced/continued the 2B category only for political gains. It guaranteed 4% reservation exclusively for Muslims. It was clearly unconstitutional. It has been unconstitutional all along. The BJP wanted to put an end to it. The Basavaraj Bommai government has taken a bold decision to scarp the quota all together,” he said.

“The Bommai government has not only removed the unconstitutional slab but also redistributed it among needy communities like Lingayats and Vokkaligas. This redistribution has been very scientific and it has rectified all the errors committed by the Congress,” he said.

He denied allegations by Opposition leaders D.K. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah that Mr. Bommai brought pressure to bear on Panchamasali seers to accept the government’s decision on re-categorisation of the community. “Threatening and insulting others are the culture of the Congress and not the BJP. Our leaders follow the decent method prescribed by Indian heritage and culture. We work by taking everyone along after persuading them,” he said.

He also defended the State government’s decision to implement internal reservation for Scheduled Castes communities. “The Congress has been using Dalits only for political purposes. All senior Dalit leaders in the Congress M. Mallikarjun Kharge, K.H. Muniyappa and G. Parameshwara have been betrayed by the Congress,” he said.

Mr. Joshi criticised Mr. Siddaramaiah for the reported confusion prevailing over his choice of constituency. “It is ironical that a leader who has presented 11 budgets is struggling to find a safe constituency,” he said.