The issue arose after Shivakumar, during the News18 India Diamond States Summit 2025, spoke about a bill granting a 4% quota to Muslims in state public contracts and mentioned that the "constitution will be changing."

Rijiju had later accused Shivakumar of stating that the Constitution would be altered to provide more reservations to Muslims, which sparked backlash from BJP leaders. However, Shivakumar refuted these claims, calling them false and misleading, prompting Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh to write to the Rajya Sabha chairman, stating that Rijiju's remarks breached privilege and amounted to contempt of the House.

Shivakumar had explained that the issue of reservation was part of a larger debate and that judgments over time had altered the Constitution, leading to changes.