BENGALURU: The Muslim community is mounting pressure on the govt to restore the 4% reservation which they previously enjoyed, especially since voting patterns in last year’s assembly elections and the bypolls to three assembly seats this month show the community had consolidated behind Congress party.
The quota was scrapped by the previous BJP govt but a case is pending in the Supreme Court which had stayed the decision. It remains a contentious issue especially since the apex court, in a 2023 observation, called the move to abolish the quota as “prima facie shaky and flawed”. However, there is no clarity on if, and when, the quota would be restored.
The scrapping of the quota became a pivotal election issue for Congress in the 2023 assembly elections, with the party returning to form the govt with an absolute majority under the leadership of Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar.
Rizwan Arshad, Shivajinagar Congress MLA was certain that the quota would be restored insisting that it is the community’s “right”. “We too have been categorised as backward socially and educationally,” he said. “Courts rationalised the reservation after scrutiny. It cannot be snatched from us overnight.”
The two-time MLA emphasised that the state govt is actively fighting the case in the Supreme Court to protect interests of Muslims. “The community is confident of receiving justice from the apex court,” he said.
Congress party sources say restoration of the 4% quota has more or less been finalised, but the govt is waiting to get the “timing right” to make an official announcement. Lok Sabha and byelections delayed action on the issue since the govt feared it would alienate Lingayat and Vokkaliga votes, which received an additional 2% quota each following the BJP govt’s 2023 decision.
“While the SC stay on the revised BJP quota means there is no immediate trouble for Muslims, we will soon meet the chief minister to push for restoration of the quota,” said a Muslim legislator, pointing out the community’s overwhelming support for Congress in recent polls.
The issue dates to 1986-87 when the O Chinnappa Reddy Commission granted 6% reservation under Category 2B to Muslims, Buddhists, and Scheduled Castes converted to Christianity. It faced legal challenges almost immediately but in 1994, the Supreme Court directed the state to ensure the total reservation does not breach the 50% limit.
In 1995, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, then leading a Janata Dal govt in Karnataka, introduced a separate 4% reservation for Muslims and adjusted Buddhists and SC-converted Christians into Category 1 and 2A of the reservation matrix. This framework remained intact until March 27, 2023, when the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP govt scrapped the Muslim quota and increased Lingayats and Vokkaligas by 2% each under the newly created 2C and 2D categories.