Bengaluru- The Karnataka government is facing controversy ahead of Wednesday's crucial byelections for three Assembly segments due to reports of an alleged proposal to reserve 4 percent of government contracts for Muslims. The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) has denied these reports, stating that no such proposal is currently before the government.

While acknowledging requests for reservation in contract allotment from prominent Muslim leaders, the CMO clarified that no decision has been made. Sources, however, claim that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has verbally approved the 4 percent reservation for Muslims in Category 2B contracts, which cover construction projects valued at less than Rs 1 crore.

The alleged move to amend the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act to facilitate this reservation has further fueled the controversy. Prominent Muslim leaders, including Minister for Waqf and Tourism Zameer Khan and Chief Minister’s Political Secretary Nasir Ahmad, had petitioned CM Siddaramaiah on August 24 for reservation for minorities under Category 2B. The leaders argued that no reservation is currently provided for economically and socially backward classes in this category and demanded that necessary orders be given for Category 2B representing minorities.

Sources claim that CM Siddaramaiah directed the Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department to review the petition, and subsequently approved the proposal. This comes after the Siddaramaiah-led government in 2016 increased the reservation for SC and ST categories in contracts from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore.

Currently, the state's reservation system for civil works contracts allocates 24 percent for SC/STs, 4 percent for OBC contractors in Category-1, and 15 percent for those in Category-2A, totaling 43 percent.