The Karnataka authorities scrapped the 4% reservation given to Muslims as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) doesn’t imagine in appeasement politics, Union minister Amit Shah mentioned on Sunday, describing the quota as constitutionally invalid.

On Friday, Karnataka hiked the reservation given to the Lingayat, Vokkaliga communities however scrapped a separate quota for Muslims in a politically important transfer simply months earlier than high-stakes meeting elections are due.

Shah mentioned the earlier authorities led by Congress gave the reservation for the Muslim neighborhood for political positive factors. “The reservation for minorities is not Constitutionally valid. There is no provision in the Constitution to give reservation based on religion,” he mentioned, whereas addressing two rallies — in Gorata village in Bidar district and Gabbur in Raichur district.

In Friday’s resolution, the 4% reservation for Muslims underneath the OBC quota was scrapped and distributed equally among the many dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.

Also Read: ‘Move ahead with PM Modi for the developement’: Amit Shah in Karnataka

Lingayats, who make up 17% of the state, and Vokkaligas, who comprise 15%, are two of Karnataka’s strongest communities and their backing is crucial throughout a big swathe of constituencies. The ruling BJP is seeking to retain energy by staving off a problem from the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular).

“The BJP does not believe in appeasement. So, it decided to change the reservation,” Shah mentioned.

The state authorities led by HD Deve Gowda, in 1994, fastened the reservation for Muslims within the state at 4%, and an order to this impact was handed in 1995.

The state has 4 classes of different backward lessons — 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B primarily based on financial, social and academic standing. These communities get preferential reservations in jobs and academic establishments primarily based on the classes. The 2A class consists of probably the most backward, adopted by 2B, 3A and 3B.

Also Read: Deve Gowda appeals for support in upcoming polls in Karnataka

With Friday’s Cabinet selections, the reservation for Vokkaligas rose from 4% to six%, and for Lingayats from 5% to 7%.

The EWS class at the moment contains Brahmins, Jains, Aryavaishyas, Nagarthas and Modaliars, which represent round 4% of the state’s inhabitants. Now the Muslim neighborhood, which constitutes round 13% of the state’s inhabitants, will probably be added to this group.

However, solely these people who find themselves from households with a complete annual earnings of lower than ₹8 lakh, have agricultural land lower than 5 acres in space, and a home of lower than 1,000 sq ft, will probably be eligible for the reservation.

Addressing a public gathering after inaugurating the Gorata Martyrs’ Memorial and a statue of the nation’s first house minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Gorata village, Shah additionally accused the Congress of not remembering those that fought and sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Hyderabad from the “brutal” rule of the Nizam.

Shah additionally hoisted a 103ft-high Tricolour at Gorata, which is called the “Jallianwala Bagh of South India”.

“More than 200 people were massacred here in Gorata by the brutal Nizam, but due to its appeasement policy, the Congress never remembered those who fought and sacrificed their lives for Hyderabad liberation only for its greed for vote bank,” he added.

Paying his obeisance to Sardar Patel, he mentioned had there not been Patel, Hyderabad wouldn’t have been liberated.

Noting that the BJP by no means believed in “appeasement”, Shah mentioned that the BS Yediyurappa-led BJP authorities had renamed the erstwhile Hyderabad-Karnataka area Kalyana Karnataka.

“Because Hyderabad Nizam ruled the region, it was called Hyderabad-Karnataka region. It is the Congress which allowed the symbols of India’s slavery to continue here, but Yediyurappa renamed it as Kalyana Karnataka,” he mentioned.

The Congress hit again, saying that it will restore the reservation for Muslims whether it is voted to energy.

Terming the Karnataka authorities’s resolution to maneuver Muslims into the ten% EWS pool “unconstitutional”, state Congress president DK Shivakumar mentioned “it’s the right of minorities”.

“They (the government) think that reservation can be distributed like a property. It’s not a property. It’s a right of minorities,” he mentioned.

“We don’t want their 4% to be scrapped and given to any of the major communities. They (members of the minority community) are our brothers and family members. Entire Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats are rejecting this offer,” Shivakumar mentioned.

“We will scrap all this,” he mentioned.

Former chief minister and chief of opposition within the state meeting, Siddaramaiah, additionally lashed out on the BJP authorities, saying it has betrayed everybody by creating confusion on the reservation problem.

“The purpose of the Constitution by Ambedkar is to provide equal protection without discrimination on the basis of caste, religion or gender. This is what Article 14 of the Constitution says. Article 15 and 16 provide for reservation in education and employment. Its aim is to give special privileges to those who are deprived of opportunities and bring them into the mainstream. It is only when the socially and educationally backward are brought into the mainstream that we can move towards the establishment of an equal society. This is clearly stated in the constitution,” Siddaramaiah mentioned, talking at a press convention held on the KPCC workplace in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Muslim neighborhood have mentioned they are going to problem the transfer in Court.

(With inputs from businesses)