Muslim quota: Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje urges Karnataka Governor to withold consent for bill

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje on Friday urged Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withhold consent to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which grants a 4 per cent reservation to Muslims in public contracts.

In a letter to the Governor, the minister termed the Bill “unconstitutional, discriminatory, and against the ethos of the Indian Constitution.

She also pointed out that reservation based on religion violates Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination), and 16 (equal opportunity in public employment).

“The Hon’ble Supreme Court has consistently ruled that affirmative action must be based on social and educational backwardness, not religious identity. The proposed amendment is an open circumvention of constitutional safeguards and is liable to be struck down by the judiciary,” she said in her letter.

Accusing the Karnataka government of appeasement politics, Karandlaje argued that the amendment “undermines the secular fabric of our nation” and warned that it could invite legal challenges.

“This proposed reservation is not aimed at empowering the underprivileged but is a blatant attempt at appeasement politics for electoral gains. Such divisive policies weaken the secular fabric of the country and set a dangerous precedent, leading to social disharmony and policy corruption. The government should focus on uplifting all backward communities based on socio-economic criteria rather than religion,” she wrote.