Shivamogga (ANI): Former Karnataka Minister and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa on Monday said that BJP does not want a single vote from the Muslim community in Shivamogga in the upcoming Karnataka elections.

While addressing a Veerashaiva-Lingayat meeting in Shivamogga, Eshwarappa said, “We do not want even a single Muslim vote here. Nationalist Muslims will, however, vote for the BJP.”

Earlier last month in a cabinet meeting the Karnataka government scrapped the four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims and distributed it to two dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas. It also decided to move OBC Muslims to the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.

In this regard, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said reservations provided to the minorities in the state were not as per the provisions of the constitution.

“Reservations provided to the minority were not as per Constitution. There is no provision in the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion,” Amit Shah said.

“Congress Government due to its polarisation politics provided reservation to the minority. BJP scrapped that reservation and provided reservations to Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities,” he added.

However, the Congress party stated that if voted to power in the upcoming Assembly election, it will restore reservation for the Muslim community under the OBC list that has been scrapped by the BJP-led government in Karnataka.

“We will scrap all these reservations if voted to power as there is no base in this there was no report while making this decision,” Congress state president DK Shivakumar said.

The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13.