“They Can’t Even Touch It”: CM Bommai Hits Back at Congress Party on Reservation Issue

GG News Bureau

Bengaluru, 8th April. In response to Congress leader DK Shivakumar’s promise of cancelling the scrapping of the four per cent Muslim quota if elected, Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai stated that the Congress party cannot even touch the reservation.

His comments came after Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said on Friday, “As soon as our government comes, we will cancel the reservation issue and protect the minority interests.”

In an interview with the media here on Friday, CM Bommai stated, “They (Congress) don’t have clarity in any issue in reservation and policies. They are just raining statements. Let them remove the reservation, they can’t touch it, let us see what they can do”.

He stated that the entire ticket selection procedure is proceeding legally and that the final list will be announced soon.

“I told you on Thursday only, that there will be more aspirants for the ticket as there is a lot of competition. The party will have a meeting on April 8 and 9, and tickets will be distributed on April 10. We have collected the opinions of our party workers, leaders and the people. The final list will also be made accordingly,” he said.

The Chief Minister went on to say that the Congress party is “weak” from within and will suffer a crushing defeat in the state’s upcoming assembly elections.

“As far as I know, Congress doesn’t have proper candidates even on 60 seats, that’s why they are swapping candidates. They are just making voices, but are weak from the inside. Fights are going on within the party between different factions. They will lose very badly in the coming elections,” CM Bommai added.

Last month, the Karnataka government abolished the 4% OBC reservation for Muslims and redistributed it to the two dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas. In addition, the government decided to move OBC Muslims into the 10% Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.

The Karnataka Assembly election is scheduled for May 10, with the results being announced on May 13.