Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated on Tuesday that the Congress party has taken away reservation benefits from backward classes in Karnataka, reallocating them to Muslims.
“If Congress forms the government, they will do the same in Haryana too,” he remarked during the state-level Backward Classes Samman Sammelan in the election-focused Haryana.
He said the Congress has always been against the backward classes. “In 1957, the Kaka Kalelkar Commission was formed for OBC reservation, but the Congress did not implement it for years. In 1980, Indira Gandhi shelved the Mandal Commission. When it was introduced in 1990, Rajiv Gandhi opposed OBC reservation by giving a speech for two hours and 43 minutes.”
He emphasized that after becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Modi declared his government to be one for Dalits, the poor, and backward classes.
“The BJP has done the work of giving the country its first empowered backward-class Prime Minister. By giving 27 out of 71 ministers from the backward class, Narendra Modi ji has done the work of honouring the OBCs of Haryana and the country,” Amit Shah said.
The Home Minister highlighted the initiatives undertaken by the Prime Minister for the OBC community, including securing reservations in various educational institutions.
“I want to assure you that we will not allow Muslim reservation in Haryana,” he said.
Challenging Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Hooda, he stated, “I have brought the account of every penny, come to the field with the data.”
With the Assembly elections likely scheduled for October, the BJP aims to attract the backward classes, who make up 27 percent of Haryana’s population, as they contest the elections independently.
This marked Amit Shah’s second visit to the state within three weeks, where the BJP has been in power since October 2014. He was welcomed by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and his Cabinet members.
He praised Haryana’s reputation for sending sons to the Army and excelling in sports, noting that seven out of ten medals are often won by Haryana's youth.
“First, increasing the creamy layer income limit from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. Second, the decision has been taken to change the reservation in panchayats. Eight per cent reservation was allocated for Group-A in panchayats, now five per cent reservation for Group-D will also begin from today… third, the municipal corporations’ five per cent reservation for Group B will begin and the eight per cent reservation will remain as it is.”
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