Abhishek Singhvi justifies quota for Muslims in award of contracts in Karnataka as it seeks to address backwardness in the community

Justifying the reservation extended to Muslims in Karnataka, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi has said the 4% quota announced for Muslims in the award of contracts seeks to address the backwardness in the community.

Mr. Singhvi’s observation came in response to a query from a reporter at a press conference here on Saturday, a day after the State Cabinet approved an amendment to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act to introduce 4% reservation in government tenders to Muslim contractors under the 2B category of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

“Reservation is not given to them because they are Muslims. It is being given because that section has backwardness. The quota seeks to address that backwardness,” Mr. Singhvi said.

Responding to Opposition BJP’s plans to question the quota for Muslims in the court, the Congress leader said the saffron party was welcome to move the court as it was their constitutional right. If the BJP moves the court, the State government’s decision would be legally tested, he said.

However, the Congress government in Karnataka enjoyed the administrative right to provide such a reservation to backward sections of society. He said the government was transparent about extending the reservation.

On delimitation

Mr. Singhvi described the dissatisfaction expressed by the governments of certain southern States over the possible decline in the number of Lok Sabha seats during the proposed delimitation exercise as a “serious issue” that begs the attention of the ruling party and government at the Centre.

He regretted that not even an attempt had been made by either the Centre, the Prime Minister or the Home Minister to involve all the stakeholders of the proposed delimitation exercise expected to be carried out on the basis of population.

Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that the southern States would not lose a single Lok Sabha seat, Mr. Singhvi argued that there would be a “relative reduction” in the number of seats when the seats in other parts of the country, where population had increased, go up.

Fielding queries on the Congress’ poor performance in the recent polls in Delhi and other States, Mr. Singhvi said the party was introspecting over its performances, but added that the BJP was creating a non-level playing field by deploying a lot of resources and money power in all elections.

Besides, he alleged that the ruling party uses the Income Tax Department, CBI, and ED as its frontal organisations. However, he said the Congress had won several elections before 2014 and described the recent losses as “cycles”.

Published - March 15, 2025 09:12 pm IST