Hyderabad, March 26: Not satisfied with Chief Minister K Rosaiah’s assurance that the Congress Government was committed to implement four percent reservations to Muslims in education and employment, the Opposition TDP, CPI and CPM parties today demanded the Congress-led UPA Government to amend the Constitution for implementation of 10 percent reservations to Muslims who were economically and socially backward. BJP was the only party which had strongly opposed the reservations to minorities on the basis of religion.
Participating in a debate on reservations to Muslim minorities under the Short Discussion in the Assembly, Opposition leader N Chandrabababu Naidu demanded that the Government move a resolution in the House seeking 10 percent reservations to Muslims.
He also demanded the Government to take the initiative in convincing the BJP and NDA constituents to support reservations to OBCs (Other Backward Classes) and minorities in the country.
If needed, an all-party delegation should meet the President and the Prime Minister for the purpose, he felt. MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to initiate steps for implementation of Muslim reservations.
Nobody challenged the reservations being implemented in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka where it was more than 50 percent.
G Mallesh (CPI) and J Ranga Reddy (CPM) insisted on having a Constitutional amendment on par with states like Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura.
The Congress was not sincere on the issue and misled the minorities for vote bank politics, they remarked.
Jayaprakash Narayan (LSP) observed that the Constitution, in fact, had provided more benefits to minorities.
Though the Muslims comprise 9.2 percent of the State’s total population, their representation in in police department, education and other sectors was more than the State’s average.
The Government should not indulge in vote bank politics, but should implement reservations with sincerity, he added.
G Kishan Reddy (BJP) apprehended that Muslim reservations would give boost to `religious conversions’. He, however, made it clear that his party was not against providing more scholarships to poor Muslim students and other benefits like housing and pensions.
In response, Chief Minister Rosaiah exuded confidence of getting a stay order (on reservations issue) in the Supreme Court.
The Congress Government would take all legal steps for its implementation, he asserted. Minister for BC Welfare M Mukesh Goud, in reply to issues raised by the members, also asserted that the Congress Government would definitely continue to implement reservations to empower Muslim community.
——–Agencies