In a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress in Karnataka accused the Bommai government of committing a "brazen fraud" upon the people in the name of reservations. The Congress party alleged that the BJP's only game plan is to cheat, deceive, and defraud various communities in Karnataka. The state government has changed the reservation policy three times in the last 90 days, which the Congress claims is an attempt to divide communities before the upcoming Assembly polls.
Congress leaders DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, as well as AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, held a press conference on Sunday, March 26, a day after the Karnataka Cabinet removed Muslims from the OBC category and shifted them to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). This resulted in a redistribution of the 4% quota previously reserved for Muslims. This quota has been divided among the new OBC groups 2C and 2D, benefiting Vokkaligas and Lingayats with increased quotas of 6% and 7% respectively.
The BJP government changed the reservation matrix multiple times to create "conflict, animosity, and confusion,” Surjewala said. He added that the repeated categorisation and re-categorisation of reservations is unconstitutional. Despite the reservation ceiling of 50% as laid down by the Supreme Court, Karnataka currently has a reservation quota of 56%, which the Congress said makes it impossible to implement the new reservation matrix.
"The manipulative politics of the Bommai government can be gauged from the fact that the repeated categorisation and re-categorisation will not pass the test of constitutionality, or the principles laid down for reservation," said Surjewala.
The Congress party has dubbed the BJP as "Betrayal Janata Party," as they believe that the government is attempting to divert attention from the loot and scams of the BJP's "40 percent commission Sarkara."