The Muslim quota row triggered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka had moved the entire minority community into the OBC list, was a decision taken in 1995 by then chief minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who is now a BJP ally.

It was Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) government that implemented the Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy Commission report, submitted in 1990. The report recommended the reservation for a wide spectrum of castes in the state, apart from Muslim minorities who were classed under several categories.

The 32 per cent OBC reservation is distributed across four categories — Category 1 (4 per cent), Category 2A (15 per cent), Category 2C (6 per cent), and Category 2D (7 per cent).

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, in a statement, countered Modi’s reservation swipe as a “blatant lie”.

“Prime Minister @narendramodi’s claim that the Congress has transferred the reservation quota from backward classes and Dalits to Muslims is a blatant lie. It stems from ignorance but also indicative of his desperation born from a fear of defeat,” he wrote on X.