The Treasury and Opposition benches clashed in both Houses of Parliament on Monday over Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar’s alleged statement suggesting reservation for Muslims by changing the Constitution. BJP members reacted violently to what they called the Congress’s conspiracy to change the Constitution to introduce a religion-based quota to satisfy the minority community. The Congress and Shivakumar denied making such a statement, accusing government officials of spreading false information in order to delay Parliament. However, the BJP protests continued.
Raising the issue in Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated, “A senior Congress leader, who holds a constitutional position, has said that Muslims will be given reservation by changing the Constitution.” The Speaker adjourned the House for the second time since it met in the morning—this time until 2 p.m.—amid outrage from the Opposition benches. Rijiju asserted that the Constitution does not permit religion-based reservation, citing the Muslim League’s demands in 1947, which Sardar Patel and the entire House had rejected. The minister demanded that Shivakumar be removed from his position.
The Rajya Sabha saw more heated arguments after lunch, including an argument between House Leader J. P. Nadda and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. Nadda charged that the Congress was trying to make reservations for Muslims by avoiding the OBC quota. Kharge refuted the accusation, stating that Shivakumar had never said anything of that sort. Similar to the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, Prime Minister Modi claimed that the Congress was going to implement a Muslim quota. In response, the Congress accused him of trying to obtain a majority of more than 400 votes in order to change the Constitution and do away with caste-based reservations.
The post-lunch sitting of the Rajya Sabha, which followed two adjournments in the first half, began with Congress MPs raising their voices and accusing the government of misleading the House by distorting Shivakumar’s words. An enraged Nadda rose to protest the Karnataka government’s decision to grant Muslims a 4% reservation in public contracts, reminding the Opposition benches that both B. R. Ambedkar and Sardar Patel had opposed religious-based reservations.
Previously, the Telangana Assembly had approved quotas for Muslims while, according to the BJP, depriving Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (SCs/STs/OBCs) of their rights. “They attempted to create a backdoor entry for Muslims into the OBC quota. History bears witness. And now, they are introducing quotas for Muslims in public contracts,” Nadda said.
