BJP’s C.R. Kesavan Slams Karnataka Minority Quota Hike, Calls It ‘Appeasement Politics’

By A Staff Reporter

Chennai: The BJP has come out strongly against the Karnataka government's decision to increase reservation for minorities in housing schemes from 10% to 15%, with party spokesperson C.R. Kesavan calling it a “divisive communal agenda” and a betrayal of constitutional values.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Kesavan condemned the move as a “direct assault on the rights of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs)”, and accused the Congress government in Karnataka of pushing vote bank politics at the cost of social justice.

“The Congress government in Karnataka is spreading a divisive communal agenda and conspiring against the Constitution. This move is a blatant betrayal of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s principles of social justice,” said Kesavan. He alleged that the increase in quota was designed not for equity, but for religious appeasement, which he claimed had been a long-standing Congress strategy.

“For the Congress party, neither the nation, nor the Constitution, nor the welfare of our marginalised communities comes first — only their politics of religious appeasement,” he added.

The Karnataka government has defended the hike, stating it aims to uplift socio-economically backward minorities who have long struggled with housing access. However, the decision has sparked a broader political debate, with critics questioning its legal and constitutional validity, especially in light of the Supreme Court's cap on reservations.