The Congress party’s appeasement politics towards Muslims has come to the fore once again, with the BJP Government in Karnataka scrapping the four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on March 26 endorsed the decision of the BJP Government in the southern State and asserted in unambiguous words that there is no provision in the Constitution to provide reservations on the basis of religion.
Addressing a rally in poll-bound Karnataka’s Bidar, the Home Minister slammed the Congress for providing reservations on the basis of religion in the State. Amit Shah said that the reservation for Muslims introduced by the previous Congress-led Government in the State was not as per Constitution.
“Congress Government due to its polarisation politics provided reservation to the minority. Reservations provided to the minority were not as per Constitution. There is no provision in the Constitution
to provide reservation on the basis of religion,” the Home Minister said.
In its last Cabinet meeting before the polls, the Basavaraj Bommai Government on March 24 scrapped the four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims and distributed it to two communities – Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas.
The Cabinet decided to move OBC Muslims to the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category. Amit Shah maintained that the Congress party had provided reservation to the minority as part of its polarisation politics. “The BJP scrapped that reservation and provided reservations to Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities,” he said.
The Home Minister also inaugurated the ‘Garota Shaheed Smarak’ and a memorial of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. The 20-ft tall statue of Sardar Patel is a symbol of the significant role played by the country’s first Home Minister, he said.
He also highlighted the sacrifice of people in Gorata village who were allegedly killed by Razakars of Nizam, the ruler of Hyderabad State, for hosting a 2.5-ft tall tri-colour. Amit Shah said now, a 103-ft tall tri-colour had been hoisted on the same land.
“Due to Congress’s politics of polarisation and their greed for vote bank, they never commemorated the people who sacrificed themselves for independence and Hyderabad Mukti,” Amit Shah said.
“This 20-ft tall statue of Sardar Patel is a symbol of the significant role played by our first Home Minister in ousting the Nizam from Hyderabad. That is why this area, this Bidar could become a part of India,” Amit Shah said.
