Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, vowed to eliminate Muslim reservations in Telangana if the BJP comes to power in the state during a rally in Chevella near Hyderabad. He denounced religiously motivated quotas, calling them “unconstitutional.” He said that the BJP would end the 4% Muslim quota and grant rights to members of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and other underprivileged populations. He asserted that the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government was “corrupt” in many of its projects and that the BJP’s fight would continue until the “corrupt” government was “dethroned.” Additionally, he charged that the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM “agenda” was being carried out in the state by the K Chandrashekar Rao administration.
According to Mr. Shah, no administration in Telangana can operate under the direction of the Majlis (Owaisi), and the state’s government would serve the needs of its citizens, not Owaisi. In response to the home minister’s pledge to abolish the Muslim quota in the state, Mr. Owaisi asserted that the BJP’s plan for Telangana was nothing more than “anti-Muslim hate speech.” He said that Mr. Shah should seek a constitutional modification to remove the 50% quota ceiling if he wanted justice for SCs, STs, and OBCs. The reserve for underprivileged Muslim groups, according to Mr. Owaisi, was founded on empirical evidence.
Prior to the May 10 assembly elections, the Supreme Court had already criticised the BJP-controlled Karnataka’s decision to eliminate 4% reservations for Muslims and divide them evenly between two dominant Hindu communities. The decision seemed “on a highly shaky ground” and “flawed,” the court said. The court further emphasised that the Karnataka government’s choice went above the Supreme Court’s 1992 landmark ruling’s 50% reservation cap. The Karnataka administration has defended their choice by claiming that it was made in accordance with the advice of a commission that looked at the socioeconomic standing of various communities in the state.
Later this year, Telangana will hold its assembly elections.