The Karnataka Legislative Assembly has passed a controversial bill providing 4% reservation for Muslims in public contracts, despite strong protests from BJP legislators that resulted in significant disruption of House proceedings.

The legislation, introduced by Law Minister HK Patil on behalf of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, amends the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (KTPP) Act to reserve 4% of civil works contracts up to Rs 2 crore and goods/services contracts up to Rs 1 crore for individuals from the Muslim community classified under Category 2B of Other Backward Classes (OBC).

Friday's session descended into chaos when BJP members stormed the well of the House, tore official documents, and disrupted proceedings after mistakenly believing a finance bill was the Muslim quota legislation. The disorder prompted Speaker UT Khader to suspend 18 BJP MLAs for six months for "indiscipline and disrespectful conduct," with marshals physically removing the suspended members from the Assembly.

The ruling Congress government has defended the reservation as necessary for ensuring social justice and economic opportunities for minorities, while the BJP has criticized it as unconstitutional and politically motivated "appeasement politics."

Karnataka's existing reservation system already provides quotas in civil works contracts for various groups: 24% for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 4% for OBC Category 1, and 15% for OBC Category 2A. The newly passed bill formalizes long-standing demands to include Muslims under Category 2B with a 4% reservation.