Will restore scrapped 4% quota for Muslims in Karnataka, says Cong

Flaying the BJP-led Karnataka government for its decision to scrap the reservation for Muslims under Category 2B in the OBC list, the Congress declared on Sunday that it would restore the quota to the minority community in the event of the party coming to power in the State, where Assembly elections are due by May.

The Cabinet meeting on Friday also decided to split this quantum (four per cent) equally between Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayats at two per each in jobs and admissions in educational institutions, which was welcomed by the two politically influential communities.

The government moved Muslims into the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) pool.

President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) D K Shivakumar termed the step "unconstitutional"

"They (the government) think that reservation can be distributed like a property. It's not a property. It's a right (of minorities)", he told reporters here. "We don't want their four per cent to be scrapped