Bengaluru, 2 May

BJP’s Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Saturday accused the Karnataka government of trying to “institutionalise religious segregation” through the recently approved Rs 600 crore action plan for the development of 'minority colonies'.

“Under which constitutional provision can public money be earmarked exclusively for ‘minority colonies’ based on religion rather than for all poor and deprived localities based on objective socio-economic criteria?” Surya wrote on X.

The BJP MP has questioned the constitutional validity of the action plan, saying that it could contradict Article 14 and Article 15 of the Constitution while guaranteeing equality before the law and prohibiting discrimination by the state on grounds of religion.

“How does a Rs 600 crore religion-linked package comply with Article 14 and Article 15 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality before law and prohibit discrimination by the State on grounds of religion?” he further asked.

The BJP MP also asked the State government that if the real objective is the development of backward areas, why are equally poor Hindu, Dalit, SC/ST, OBC and other underdeveloped colonies not covered under the same framework instead of creating a religion-specific scheme.