Will scrap Telangana’s ‘unconstitutional’ Muslim quota once BJP comes to power: Amit Shah
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Hyderabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the reservation given to Muslims in Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)-governed Telangana in education and employment as well as in the implementation of welfare schemes was ‘unconstitutional’ and warned that it would be scrapped once Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power in the state.
“BJP government in the State will scrap all such unconstitutional reservations if voted to power in the next Assembly elections,” Shah said while addressing a public meeting organised in the name of ‘Vijay Sankalp Sabha’ at Chevella parliamentary constituency, in Rangareddy district, 46km off Hyderabad, on Sunday.
“Quotas are the constitutional right of Dalits, tribals and backward castes and we will ensure they benefit,” Shah told the rally.
He also appealed to the people to help the BJP to uproot the corrupt BRS rule in the state and said the party would ensure that “Mahalaxmi descended on Telangana by sitting on the lotus”.
BJP-governed Karnataka last month decided to scrape the 4% OBC quota for Muslims and to distribute it equally between two dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas. The move came ahead of the May 10 elections.
The Supreme Court while hearing the petitions against the scrapping over a week ago, called the decision “prima facie shaky and flawed”.
Shah accused the BRS of giving control to AIMIM saying that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was following Asaduddin Owaisi’s agenda and not celebrating the Telangana Liberation Day fearing backlash from Owaisi and the Muslims. He also said that once voted to power, BJP would celebrate Liberation Day on a grand scale officially in Parade Ground every year as the party does not fear Majlis, unlike KCR.
The BJP Chief also ridiculed BRS’s expansion plans, saying the PM’s post was not vacant and Narendra Modi will “easily” retain power in 2024. He warned chief minister KCR that BJP won’t stop till BRS is dethroned and his “pink party’s metamorphosis from TRS to BRS was a mere tactic to divert attention from neck-deep corruption”.
“KCR dreams of becoming PM and touring India, but let him first look into his own turf, where rot runs deep,” Shah said. The remark follows KCR’s serial rallies in Maharashtra as part of his plan to expand his national footprint.
The CM’s daughter, K Kavitha, was last month quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi’s liquor policy case.
Shah’s statements have drawn sharp reactions from the ruling BRS, AIMIM and Congress.
Taking to Twitter, AIMIM Chief Owaisi said, “Besides anti-Muslim hate speech, BJP has no vision for Telangana. All they can offer is fake encounters, surgical strikes on Hyderabad, curfews, releasing criminals and bulldozers. Why do you hate people of Telangana so much……If Shah is serious about justice for SCs, STs and OBCs, then he should introduce a constitutional amendment to remove 50% quota ceiling.”
“BJP only wants to resort to communal and divisive politics because they have nothing else to offer,” AIMIM Leader Hasan Jafri said, as quoted by News18.
“Muslims in India are being targeted, and harassed repeatedly. The 4% reservation for Muslims is for the most backward members of the community. Quota is not for all Muslims. If they hate Muslims so much, then why does Modi have ties with Muslim-dominated countries like Saudi Arabia. With this statement, the BJP has once again exposed itself," Jafri said.
The Muslim quota issue has been a long-standing debate in Telangana. Muslims have 4 percent reservations in educational institutions and jobs currently, and according to the 2011 census, the state has a 12.7% Muslim population.
In 2017, the KCR government passed a Bill in the Assembly increasing the quota to 12 percent. The decision was taken on the basis of the findings of the G Sudhir commission on the socio-economic and educational conditions of Muslims in the state.
The Bill, however, did not get the assent of the Centre which cited that not only the reservation was religion-based, but it also exceeded the limit of 50 percent reservations set for every state.
In March this year, the BJP government in Karnataka scrapped the 4 percent quota for Muslims and distributed it among Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.
