Quota for Muslim contractors in Karnataka height of appeasement: Chhattisgarh CM

Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has said the ruling Congress' decision in Karnataka to reserve four per cent of government contracts for Muslims is "height of appeasement" and against the basic spirit of the Indian Constitution.

In a statement on Saturday night, Sai asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party MP Rahul Gandhi to instruct Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to immediately withdraw the "unconstitutional" decision.

Wherever the Congress comes to power, it tries to strangle the basic spirit of the Constitution, he alleged.

The Siddaramaiah government has given its nod for amending the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act to provide four per cent reservation in government tenders to Muslim contractors.

Sai said, "The decision is a well-planned conspiracy of the Congress to spread animosity in the society. The courts have already declared religion-based reservation unconstitutional, so this decision too will not stand before judicial review. The Congress is playing with the rights of the deprived sections just for vote bank politics." The injustice to tribals, Dalits and deprived sections of the society will not be tolerated, the BJP leader said.

Kharge himself comes from a deprived section of the society, yet he is becoming a part of the conspiracy against his own society under the influence of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Chhattisgarh CM said.

"Be careful Kharge ji, history will not forgive you," Sai said.