Bengaluru/IBNS: The Karnataka government Friday announced two new categories for reservation in jobs and education while scrapping the 4 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) Muslims.

The announcement by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai comes just a month before the assembly election.

The 4 per cent OBC Muslim quota has been divided between the Vokkaligas and Lingayats.

Muslims eligible for quota have been categorised under economically weaker sections now.

The decision, however, pushes the reservation percentage in Karnataka, which is already over the 50 per cent cap imposed by the Supreme Court, to approximately 57 per cent now.

Announcing the decision, Bommai told reporters: "We have taken some important decisions. A cabinet sub-committee recommended the changes in quota categories and we have done it."

Bommai said backward classes have been reorganised into two sets - "more backward and most backward classes".