The Karnataka government, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, is considering a proposal to bring 4% quota for Muslims in public contracts for construction (civil) works. The state government is likely to table a bill for the same in the winter session of the Assembly, News18 reported citing sources.

According to this proposal, category 2B Muslims will be given 4% reservation in contracts. “Not only Muslims but other backward classes will be reserved,” the sources clarified.

Therefore, the Karnataka government is likely to have 47% total reserve in government contracts and the cap will be raised to Rs 2 crore.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Amit Malviya took to X to condemn the Congress for its “gross contempt for the Constitution”.

“The Siddaramaiah administration in Karnataka is evaluating a proposal to provide reservations to Muslims in public contracts for construction (civil) works. If Muslims are given this quota in Karnataka, then whose quota will be cut – SCs, STs or OBCs? In Telangana too, Muslims got 4% reservation, consuming the quota meant for socially backward communities,” Malviya wrote in a post.

He further condemned the grand old party for accepting the demands of the All India Ulema Council of Maharashtra, while adding that it was all about the Muslim vote for the Congress.

“In Maharashtra, the Congress-led MVA accepted a Jinnah-like demand from the Ulema Council of India. It is all about Muslim votes for the Congress, in gross contempt of the Constitution, which excludes any reservation based on religion.”

This, however, is not the first attempt by the Siddaramaiah government to woo the Muslim community in the state this year.

In April this year, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) confirmed that all castes and Muslim communities in Karnataka have been included in the list of Other Backward Classes for granting reservation in employment and educational institutions under the Karnataka government.

NCBC said that in category II-B, all Muslims in the state of Karnataka were considered as OBCs.

The NCBC also noted that even the backward and dalit communities are protesting the social discrimination of lower caste Muslims by their upper class counterparts such as Sheikhs, Syedis and Pathans.

At present, 36 Muslim communities listed under categories 1 and 2A are included in the central OBC list, which is subject to non-inclusion in the creamy layer based on an annual income threshold of Rs 8 lakh.