Centre, Opposition engage in war of words in Parliament over Karnataka's 4 per cent minority quota

New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): A fierce debate between the Treasury and Opposition benches broke out on Monday in the Rajya Sabha over the Karnataka government granting 4 percent reservations to minorities in contracts, with Union Minister J P Nadda demanding the withdrawal of the law and demanding an answer from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
JP Nadda, while speaking in Parliament, said that Congress falsely claims to be "protectors of the Constitution."
"I am saying this with a lot of sadness, the way Congress claims to be a protector of the Constitution but the way they have tried to destroy it. Dr B R Ambedkar had himself said, that reservation would not be done on the basis of the Constitution, this is an acceptable provision of the Constitution of India. But in Karnataka, there is a talk of giving reservation of 4 per cent, in contracts," Nadda said in Rajya Sabha.
This statement was met with fierce objections from the Opposition benches asking him to authenticate his remarks.
Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar also asked Nadda to authenticate his remarks and put it on the floor of the house.
"The statement to which reference has been made by the Parliamentary Affairs minister, that a functionary of the political party has made a statement on contract for muslim community, please authenticate and put it on the table of the house," Dhankar said.
Amid the shouting from the Opposition benches Nadda continued, "I will authenticate, The Karnataka government has passed a bill granting 4 per cent of reservation to minorities in public contracts, apart from that, the Deputy Chief Minister has also given a statement on the house that if needed we will change the Constitution too, this is a very serious matter, and these people call themselves the protectors of the Constitution."
Replying to Nadda's remarks, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that Congress has proven itself to be protectors of the Constitution, referencing the party's "Bharat Jodo Yatra."
"I just want to say, that the person that said that we will change the Constitution, the one made by Dr BR Ambedkar, cannot be changed by anyone. In fact, for its protection, we are the one who took out a Bharat jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir," Kharge said.
Pointing towards the government MPs, he added, "These people, they want to do Bharat todo (breaking up India)."
These remarks by Kharge were met by loud objections from the treasury benches, prompting Parliamentary Affairs minister Kiren Rijiju to reply, "I want to say on record, that their own sitting Deputy Chief Minister, and state's congress president has officially said that, and I can authenticate it too."
Earlier, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had alleged that the BJP is misquoting him and spreading fake news.
"Whatever they are quoting is wrong. They are misquoting me. We are a national party--it is our party that brought the Constitution to this country," he emphasised.
He further accused the BJP of a deliberate campaign to mislead, stating, "The BJP always tries to misguide the country... They are peddling fake news." (ANI)