OBC quota: How Congress cleverly sidestepped BJP’s polarisation trap in Karnataka

With BJP laying the polarisation trap in Karnataka, protests over the scrapping of 4% OBC quota for Muslims would have played right into the hands of the Hindutva brigade. That such a provocative decision failed to elicit any vocal reaction or street action from the vastly empowered and numerous Muslim community in Karnataka is testament to the care that Congress took to avoid the pitfalls that BJP is adept at creating.

When the BJP government termed the three-decade old quota provision as “communal reservation” and scrapped it as “unconstitutional” ahead of the elections, the Congress proactively reached out to Muslim bodies, ranging from civil society to student outfits and community organisations, urging them to exercise restraint.


A key Congress MP from Karnataka confided that the party conveyed to the Muslim bodies that any reaction on their part would only help BJP’s plan. Instead, Congressreportedly offered them a deal: It would restore the quota if it came to power. The absence of protests helped Congress skirt the volatile minority issue during the campaign. This also helped it stay focused on its populist promises and failures of the BJP dispensation.

In fact, the Congress antennae were out for the smallest possible signals suggesting polarisation.


When BJP made an issue of Rajya Sabha MP and poet Imran Pratapgarhi’s appointment as a star campaigner by whipping out an old video of his meeting and praise for murdered mafia don and public representative AtiqAhmed, Congress quietly asked the young minority face to drop out of the poll arena. It must have been tough for the AICC minority department chief who is a compulsory feature on every campaign trail for his oratory and appeal.

In the minefield of elections, there was no sense in arguing that everyone, till not a long ago, met Ahmed, who was a former MLA and MP of UP, and a strongman of Allahabad. A potential flare-up was extinguished quietly.

The caution was so strong that party’s key campaigner Siddaramaiah skipped the coastal region, which is prone to polarisation. As former CM, he was mired in some controversies over BJP’s allegations that he eats beef and also over his uninhibited “secular” stance on issues and attacks on Hindutva outfits like Bajrang Dal.

Though it is widely viewed that the mention of a ban on Bajrang Dal in the party manifesto was designed to consolidate the minorities in Old Mysuru region by weaning them away from rival JD (S), the party made a quick rethink after it kicked off a controversy with PM Modi likening the manifesto promise to banning Lord Hanuman. The party leaders went out of their way to praise “Bajrang Bali” and even recounted the number of temples they had built for Hanuman.