Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated on Tuesday that the Congress party in Karnataka had taken reservations away from backward classes and given them to Muslims.
“Should the Congress form the government, they will repeat this in Haryana as well,” Shah remarked at the state-level Backward Classes Samman Sammelan in poll-bound Haryana.
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He accused the Congress of consistently opposing the backward classes. “In 1957, the Kaka Kalelkar Commission for OBC reservation was establish, but Congress delayed its implementation for years. In 1980, Indira Gandhi disregarded the Mandal Commission. When OBC reservation was introduce in 1990, Rajiv Gandhi oppose it with a two-hour and 43-minute speech.”
Shah highlighted that in 2014, after becoming Prime Minister, Modi declared that his government would represent Dalits, the poor, and backward people. “The BJP has given the country its first empowered backward-class Prime Minister. By appointing 27 out of 71 ministers from the backward class, Narendra Modi has honored the OBCs of Haryana and the nation,” Shah added.
He enumerated the work done by the Prime Minister for the OBC community, including ensuring reservations for them in various educational institutions. “I want to assure you that we will not allow Muslim reservation in Haryana,” he asserted.
Challenging Congress leader and two-time chief minister Bhupinder Hooda, Shah said, “I have brought the account of every penny; come to the field with the data.”
With the Assembly election likely in October, the BJP, contesting the polls alone, is aiming to attract backward classes, who make up 27 percent of the state’s population. This was Shah’s second visit to Haryana in less than three weeks, where the BJP has been in power since October 2014.
Amit Shah Praised Haryana
Earlier, Shah was welcomed by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and his Cabinet colleagues. Shah praised Haryana, noting, “The land of Haryana is renowned for a few things – mothers here send their sons to the Army; in sports, India wins medals, but seven out of ten medals are bagged by the youth of Haryana…”
He commended Saini’s government for taking three significant decisions: increasing the creamy layer income limit from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh; adjusting reservation percentages in panchayats; and maintaining an eight percent reservation in municipal corporations while introducing a five percent reservation for Group B.
Shah further concluded confidently, stating that the BJP would form the government in Haryana with a complete majority.
