In the midst of current political back-and-forth between the Congress and the BJP regarding Muslim quotas, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has claimed that the BJP intended to eliminate reservation for marginalised communities entirely in the near future.
By 2025, Revanth Reddy asserted, the BJP would do away with reservations in honor of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the party’s ideological parent.
“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 emphasized that the Mandal Commission report, which called for reservations for the Backward Classes (BC), had earlier been put on hold by the BJP.
Reddy went on to claim that the BJP’s “abki baar 400 paar” campaign was intended to gain 400 seats in the Lok Sabha so that it would have enough members in Parliament to eliminate SC, ST, and BC community quotas.
“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 declaration comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party’s reservation policy during a speech in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday. In another jab at Revanth Reddy, Prime Minister Modi claimed that the “Congress Chief Minister of Telangana” will “ensure reservation for Muslims”.
PM Modi warned against weakening OBC reservations, pointing out that Muslims in Karnataka are included in this group by the Congress.
“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 PM emphasized that it was decided by the framers of the Constitution that religious discrimination would not be permitted in reservation policies.
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