The BJP on Saturday slammed the Karnataka Government’s decision to reserve four per cent of government contracts for Muslims as unconstitutional, alleging that it is part of the Congress’ appeasement politics and will weaken the national unity.

Addressing a press conference, BJP leader and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to explain his “extraordinary fondness” for Vietnam, claiming the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha is spending more time in that country than his constituency.

Gandhi is said to be in Vietnam during Holi after spending time there during the New Year as well, he claimed. “The frequency of his visit to that country is very curious,” Prasad said. He accused Gandhi of seeking to lead the Congress in the competitive communal and vote bank politics among opposition parties, claiming that he is behind the Karnataka government’s decision for quota for Muslim contractors.

Such a decision may seem small but developments like these add up to have serious national implications, Prasad said, wondering if there is any limit to such competitive appeasement politics and if separate queues for Muslims in buying cinema and train tickets will come next. The former law minister claimed that such decisions also weaken the voice for those Muslims who are against such politics and stand for the country’s development. Prasad said several demands for separate treatment for Muslims during the independence movement had finally ended up in the country’s division.

He said the Supreme Court has emphatically spoken against religion-based reservations and expressed confidence that the decision of the Congress government in Karnataka will be challenged in courts.

The Constitution makes provision for reservation on the ground of social and education backwardness, and Muslims too have benefitted under it in different states, he said.

The Karnataka government has given its nod for amending the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act to provide four per cent reservation in government tenders to Muslim contractors.