Internal quota : Cong accuses BJP of 'misleading' SC/STs

KPCC president D K Shivakumar, leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders stage a protest, accusing the government of misleading SC/STs on internal reservation, in Bengaluru on Friday. DH Photo/S K Dinesh

The Congress on Friday staged a protest against the BJP government for 'misleading' the SC/STs on their reservation.

The Congress leaders were stopped by the police from proceeding towards the Raj Bhavan, where they planned to picket.

The Congress has argued that the BJP government's decision to increase reservation for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent does not have legal sanction as it is yet to come under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.

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"The BJP government is misleading the SC/STs. The government wrote a letter to the union government on Thursday night after finding out about our protest. They should have approached the union government in November when they hiked the reservation," Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah told reporters.

The Congress later sent a memorandum to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot seeking action against the BJP government for the 'act of betrayal'.