New Delhi: Amid continuous attacks from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Congress, if voted to power, will “loot” the quota for SC, ST, OBC communities and ‘give it to Muslims’, the Congress party Sunday responded to the charge by sharing a video of Modi from 2022 where he talks about reservations for Muslims in Gujarat in the OBC category.
In an excerpt of an interview, posted by Congress general secretary incharge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, Modi says: “We work on sabka saath. We should worry about any suppressed section of society. Shouldn’t we? But if we go by traditions, in a particular society caste is mentioned and in another society caste is never mentioned.
“Does that mean, other sections of society (where caste is not mentioned), don’t have castes? Is there no discrimination? Are they not backward?”.
He adds, “In my Gujarat, in the Muslim community, there are 70 castes which are categorised as OBC. In my Gujarat, they get benefits in OBC.”
Is this video from the PM's interview to ANI on February 9th, 2022 also doctored, self-declared Chanakyaji @AmitShah?
The hypocrisy of PM @narendramodi on reservations in Karnataka stands thoroughly exposed! pic.twitter.com/VGdT16JCu3
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 5, 2024
In the interview, recorded ahead of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Modi was responding to a question on communal and caste-based polarisation during elections.
Sharing the excerpt on X, Ramesh wrote, “The hypocrisy of PM @narendramodi on reservations in Karnataka stands thoroughly exposed!”
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, too, had clarified earlier that “Backward Classes (BC) reservation of Muslims has been in existence since 1977” and that the same has “withstood legal scrutiny”. At present, 36 Muslim castes in the state are eligible for reservation under Category I (Most Backward) and Category II (A) (Relatively More Backward) of the state’s quota matrix. Apart from these, the rest of the community is determined to be “More Backward” which entitles it to 4 percent reservation under Category II (B), which applies only to Muslims.
During a public meeting in Karnataka last month, Modi had alleged, “Once again Congress has given reservation based on religion through backdoors in Karnataka by putting all Muslim castes along with the OBCs. By doing so, it has snatched a big chunk of reservations from the OBC community”.
Ramesh’s post came a day after BJP’s Karnataka unit posted a animated video where a character resembling Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is shown to be ‘depriving’ OBC, SC and ST communities.
ಎಚ್ಚರ.. ಎಚ್ಚರ.. ಎಚ್ಚರ..! pic.twitter.com/Pr75QHf4lI
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 4, 2024
Modi in a series of attacks over the last couple of weeks had targeted the Congress alleging that the party plans to ‘take away’ reservation from SC, ST and OBC communities, and ‘give it to Muslims’.
For instance, in Agra last month, he claimed, “The Congress is determined to steal from the OBC quota to provide reservation based on religion.”
“Reservation for the SC, ST, OBC and economically backward of the general category will never be looted… Your (Congress) intention is to loot the reservation and give it to Muslims. I challenge the Shehzada of Congress to declare that they will never misuse the reservation based on religion,” he reiterated Wednesday in Gujarat. A day later, in Gujarat, he said, “Now they want to steal the ST, SC, OBC, reservation and give it away to Muslims.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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This is an emotive political issue. True, the Constitution makes no provision for quotas based on religion. Till it was amended recently, it also made no provision for reservation in favour of the less well off from the general category. By any objective evaluation, Muslims are almost on par with Dalits for many economic attainments. Personally I see no harm in a small, symbolic quota of say 5% for Muslims, tied to income criteria. Some use the word appeasement but I think it would be the sign of an enlightened society demonstrating tolerance and magnanimity. As opposed to so much hate and bigotry that members of the society routinely face.