BJP will not allow reservation for Muslims: Amit Shah

Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, November 25

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Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah announced on Sunday that his party would not allow reservation based on religion, coming in direct confrontation with caretaker Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) that has advocated 12 per cent reservation for the Muslim minority in the state. 

Telangana has about 12.7 per cent Muslims. Caretaker Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) has promised them special reservation.

Shah, who is in Telangana on a day-long election tour, was addressing a public rally at addressing a public meeting at Parkal in Warangal district. “The BJP will never let any government implement the 12 per cent reservation for minorities as this is opposed to the Supreme Court directive that has fixed a ceiling of 50 per cent reservation for all categories of reservation, making any further reservation ‘unconstitutional’.”

The Telangana State Assembly that was dissolved on September 6, forcing early elections in the state had passed a resolution for increasing reservation for Muslims in jobs and education from current four per cent. The resolution was sent to the BJP Government at the centre for a nod. Chief Minister Rao has been targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving its proposal for the quota. Shah said his party would stand as a rock to protect the reservation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward classes.

The BJP President has made this announcement two days ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the state, raising the election pitch in the state that goes to poll on December 7 along with four other states. Making a strong appeal to vote for the BJP that is going along in the Telangana poll, Shah said: “If voted to power, our government will not be dependent on the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) like the TRS”.

MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi is considered friendly towards TRS.

Telangana has an 85.1 per cent Hindu population, 12.7 per cent Muslims, 1.3 per cent Christians and 0.9 per cent others. The BJP president clearly targeted the majority Hindu populations by appealing to the majority voters trying to polarise voters by suggesting that their interest was at stake if the BJP was not voted to power.

Shah criticised KCR for imposing a burden on the state by announcing early election just because “KCR was afraid of Modi’s impact if the Assembly polls were to be held along with the Lok Sabha elections in 2019”. He added that KCR was not interested in the development of his state, but only in promoting his son and daughter in politics.

Appealing to people to vote for the BJP, Shah said BJP alone could provide a government which could save Telangana and take it forward on the path of development. He said the Modi government took up several works for Telangana’s development and released over Rs 1.15 lakh crore to the state under the 14th Finance Commission, as against Rs 16,596 crore given by the UPA government under the 13th Finance Commission.

“The central government gave over Rs 2.30 lakh crore for Telangana’s development in the last four-and-a-half years. Under KCR’s rule, a revenue surplus state (when Telangana was formed) has been pushed into Rs 2 lakh crore debt,” he said.