The BJP government abolished this reservation and boosted quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Vokkaligas, and Lingayats. According to Amit Shah. On Saturday, Home Minister Amit Shah expressed confidence that the BJP will win 15-20 seats more than the halfway mark in Karnataka assembly elections, despite defections by some party leaders, noting that historically, its rebels have not won and “this will prove true this time also.”
In an interview with India Today, the minister predicted that the BJP would obtain 15-20 seats more than the midway point of 112 members in the 224-member house. Karnataka assembly elections are set for May 10. He called the Congress’ claims of corruption against the BJP government in Karnataka “baseless.” They are unsubstantiated by any court and were invented by the Congress to cover up corruption during its own rule, Shah alleged, accusing the opposition party of using Karnataka as their “ATM” when it was in power.
The Congress has no answers for its apathy towards Karnataka during its regime, he said, adding that during the Congress-led UPA’s tenure in office from 2009 to 2014, the Centre released Rs 94,224 crores to the state. During 2014-19, Prime Minister Modi boosted the amount to nearly Rs 2.26 lakh crore. He noted that the tax devolution and grant-in-aid have been enhanced from Rs 22,000 crore to Rs 75,000 crore. He accused the Congress of violating the Constitution by giving a 4% reservation for Muslims in the state.
According to him, the Constitution forbids any type of reservation based on religious identification. According to him, the BJP government abolished this reservation and boosted quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Vokkaligas, and Lingayats. “The BJP govt in the state ended special favours that were aimed at political gains and brought the reservation categories in accordance with the Constitution,” he stated, according to a report by India Today.
In response to Shah’s remarks, Congress chairman Mallikarjun Kharge stated that the reservation for Muslims was granted long ago when the Supreme Court of India did not overturn it. “This four per cent quota was given long back, when the Supreme Court did not strike it down,” Kharge stated, according to the India Today report. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a petition opposing the state’s Muslim reservation. The next hearing is set for April 25th.