BJP slams quota for Muslim contractors in Karnataka, questions Rahul Gandhi's visits to Vietnam

Addressing a press conference, BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to explain his 'extraordinary fondness' for Vietnam, claiming the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha is spending more time in that country than his constituency.

New Delhi: Slamming the Congress ruled Karnataka government's decision to reserve four per cent of government contracts for Muslims, the BJP central leadership on Saturday said that it is totally unconstitutional.

Addressing a press conference, BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Supreme Court has emphatically spoken against religion-based reservations. He also expressed confidence that the decision of the Congress government in Karnataka will be challenged in courts.

He also asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to explain his "extraordinary fondness" for Vietnam, claiming the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha is spending more time in that country than his constituency.

Gandhi is said to be in Vietnam during Holi after spending time there during the New Year as well, he claimed.

"The frequency of his visit to that country is very curious," Prasad said.

The Constitution makes provision for reservation on the grounds of social and education backwardness, and Muslims too have benefitted under it in different states, he said.

The former Law Minister alleged that the Congress is setting a new benchmark in competitive vote bank and Muslim appeasement politics, adding that this is dangerous for the country.

Prasad accused Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of seeking to lead the Congress in the competitive vote bank politics among opposition parties.

He claimed that Gandhi is behind the Karnataka government's decision for quota for Muslim contractors as Chief Minister Siddharamaiah does not have the courage or political capital to take the decision.

The announcement of a separate quota in government contracts for Muslims has given a new dimension to the communal and vote bank politics, he said.

Such a decision, the former law minister said, may seem small but developments like these add up to have serious national implications.

Prasad said several demands for separate treatment for Muslims during the independence movement had finally ended up in the country's division.

The Constitution makes provision for reservation on the ground of social and education backwardness, and Muslims too have benefitted under it in different states, he said.

The Karnataka 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.

(With PTI inputs)