The Karnataka government's decision to provide four per cent reservation in government contracts is not exclusively for Muslims, but for all minority communities and backward classes, said Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.
"Four per cent reservation is not just for Muslims but all minority communities and backward classes," he told news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Bengaluru | Karnataka Dy CM DK Shivakumar says, "Tamil Nadu (DMK) delegation came to meet me... My Chief Minister directed me to participate after speaking to our party's high command as he couldn't travel due to his leg injury..."
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On Karnataka government clears 4%… pic.twitter.com/pOXKPrC5uz
The state government's decision has sparked off a political storm in the state with the BJP accusing the ruling Congress of Muslim appeasement.
BJP leader and former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rahul Gandhi was behind the Karnataka government's move, adding that such decisions may seem small but would have serious national implications.
Taking a jibe at the Siddaramaiah government, he wondered whether the next step would be separate queues for Muslims in buying cinema and train tickets.
The state cabinet on Friday gave its nod for amending the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act to provide four per cent reservation in government tenders to Muslim contractors.
The cabinet decision came days after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, while presenting the budget, announced that four per cent of public works contracts would be reserved for Muslims under a category called Category-II B.
Reservation will be provided in the procurement of goods and services under various government departments, corporations, and institutions for suppliers belonging to SC, ST, Category-I, Category-II A, and Category-II B, up to Rs 1 crore, in which Category-II B refers to Muslims.
Prasad noted that the Supreme Court has emphatically spoken against religion-based reservations and that the Constitution makes provision for reservation on the ground of social and educational backwardness.
