Amid the ongoing political slugfest between the BJP and the Congress over quota for Muslims, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has alleged that the BJP was planning on completely doing away with reservation for marginalised communities in the near future.
Revanth Reddy claimed that the BJP would scrap reservations by 2025, the centenary year of its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"By 2025, RSS will complete 100 years. They are trying to scrap SC, ST, OBC reservations by 2025. Many times, RSS and BJP leaders have commented about reservations," the Congress leader said at a public meeting on Thursday.
He pointed out that the BJP had previously halted the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, which proposed reservations for Backward Classes (BC).
Reddy further alleged that the BJP’s goal of ‘abki baar 400 paar’ was aimed at winning 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections to have the numbers in Parliament to scrap quotas for SC, ST and BC communities.
"Few people are supporting the BJP, which is trying to scrap reservations. These Lok Sabha elections are a referendum on SC, ST, BC reservations," he stated.
Reddy's statement follows remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a rally in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, where he bashed the Congress party's stance on reservations. PM Modi had also taken a dig at Revanth Reddy, saying that the "Congress Chief Minister of Telangana" would "ensure reservation for Muslims".
The Prime Minister warned against diluting reservations for OBCs, citing the Congress's inclusion of Muslims under this category in Karnataka.
"The Congress wants to snatch reservation from SCs/STs/OBCs and give it to its special vote-bank," PM Modi alleged, accusing the Congress of attempting to politicise reservation policies based on religion.
"This action of the Congress is an alarm bell for the OBC communities of the entire country," he said.
The Prime Minister pointed out that the Constitution makers had clearly decided that reservation cannot be given on the basis of religion.
