New Delhi [India], March 24 : Days after the Karnataka government granted four per cent reservation to minorities in public contracts, BJP MP Mayank Nayak on Monday slammed the move and accused the Congress of playing "politics of religion."
He also slammed remarks of the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar related to Constitution.
"Karnataka government has announced to provide 4 per cent reservation to the Muslim community in public contracts. Who is doing the politics of religion and giving reservations based on religion? Today, there was a ruckus in the Rajya Sabha and Union Minister JP Nadda strongly objected to the matter that reservation should not be made based on religion," he said.
Meanwhile, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of making laws based on religion and said Congress government's decision for reservation to the main minority in public contracts stems from a practice that has been in existence in the state since 1994.
He accused BJP-led government of trying to hide corruption cases.
"...BJP is making laws based on religion. We have never given reservations based on religion...by raising this issue today(in Parliament) without any reason, the government wants to hide its corruption cases...our Congress party and other parties in Karnataka, all together accepted the reservation started in 1994. That reservation has been there since then...continuing till today. But what is their problem?" Kharge told ANI.
The Congress chief was asked about the reported remarks of the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on the Constitution.
He said benefits of the free guarantees are reaching the doorsteps of every household and therefore, "the BJP is unhappy with the popularity" of the Congress.
"Their problem is that our five guarantees are reaching the people in Karnataka and so they are very sad that the popularity of Congress is increasing...," he added.
Shivakumar earlier accused the BJP of trying to twist his remarks and said he is consulting his legal team.
"I don't want to comment much on it. There is no hide-and-seek in this issue. On quota, there are several judgments which have come, and after every judgment, amendments have been made to the Constitution; there is nothing else. So they (BJP) are trying to twist it. They don't have any issues," the Karnataka Dy CM told ANI.