Hyderabad: If the Congress comes to power at the Centre, it will bring back Article 370, triple talaq and increase Muslim reservation, Union Minister and Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) candidate from Secunderabad G. Kishan Reddy said in an exclusive interview with ThePrint.
“They (Congress) have increased Muslim reservation in Karnataka and will do it further, which is why our leadership is countering it. It is completely true that the Congress is trying to appease the Muslim community in the elections,” he said.
Talking about why the BJP is focusing more on the issue of ‘Muslim reservation’ now, Reddy said the move was necessitated after the Congress announced schemes aimed at appeasing the community. However, he asserted that the party has also been highlighting the development work done in the past two decades under the Narendra Modi government.
“We have been talking about our achievements made in the past 10 years, be it foreign policy, new education policy, among others. We are putting out advertisements on those aspects and focusing on that as far as publicity is concerned. But in between, the Congress party’s manifesto came up aimed at Muslim appeasement. So, our leadership felt the need to counter that narrative,” he said.
Meanwhile, Reddy also condemned the statement made by BJP’s Navneet Rana on 9 May in response to a past statement made by All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi during a 2012 address in Nirmal, Telangana.
Owaisi had claimed that if police were removed for 15 minutes, his community would show 100 crore Hindus what it could do. In retort, Rana asserted, “It may take you 15 minutes but it will take us only 15 seconds.”
“The (Navneet Rana’s) statement is completely wrong. The Majlis party can say anything, but they have nothing to worry about. They had earlier made a statement about getting ‘15 minutes and we will see 100 crore Hindus.’ Many have criticised their statements. That was a wrong statement and such statements should not be made. In response, Navneet Rana said something, which I am not aware of, but such statements should not be made,” Reddy told ThePrint.
He added that the Majlis party could say anything, but the BJP being a national party, could not say such things. “We are at the Centre, and it is our duty to protect everyone in the country. We have a zero-tolerance policy on violence (whether terrorists, etc). We have tried to stop terrorism and have taken steps for that,” he highlighted.
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‘Congress appeasing Muslims’
Talking about the Muslim reservations, the Union minister said the Congress has brought reservations in Karnataka and that’s why the BJP leadership is focusing on this and countering it.
In Karnataka, category II-B of the reservation matrix grants a 4 percent quota for the OBC Muslim community. However, the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in March last year, had proposed removal of the Muslims entirely from the state backward classes list and redistribute it to two newly carved out categories, mainly comprising Vokkaligas and Lingayats. But this proposal was rejected by the very caste groups he intended to placate.
“Congress party is trying to appease the Muslims and we are countering the narrative,” said Reddy, adding that “today 4 percent Muslim reservation is being implemented in Telangana, which is nothing but appeasement”.
Reddy clarified that while a 4 percent Muslim reservation is being implemented in Telangana, the Modi government’s reservation policy is inclusive of all economically weaker sections, regardless of religion.
“Since the time of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, reservations to Muslims are being provided. Some people went to the High Court pointing out that it is unconstitutional. In the Indian Constitution, reservation can’t be provided on religious lines, though it can be extended on economic and social lines. The HC cancelled that reservation saying it was unconstitutional. They then moved the SC and got the stay and implemented reservation,” he said.
According to Reddy, the BJP government has given reservations to poor Muslims through the EWS quota, where anyone who is economically weak can get benefits. “Muslims who are poor automatically come under the EWS reservation. The BJP believes in extending benefits to the poor and needy.”
Ram temple, ‘400 paar’ and more
Countering the Opposition, which has been claiming that the BJP leaders are talking about ‘400 paar’ to change the Constitution, Reddy said, “Why should we change the Constitution? We have never said it. We give utmost respect to the Constitution. In fact, we will implement reservation much more strongly.”
When asked whether Ram Mandir is resonating on the ground and there doesn’t seem to be a buzz about it in Telangana, the BJP leader pointed out that the party is not publicising Ram Mandir.
“We are not publicising Ram Mandir, we are fighting on work done by Narendra Modi. We are focused more on Narendra Modi ji’s image, the achievements of the government and what we have done for Telangana at the Centre,” the tourism minister told ThePrint.
He went on to add: “We are not contesting elections only on this aspect (Ram Mandir). We will talk about Ram Mandir, but elections are not being fought on that but on the achievements of the Modi government.”
The BJP has been trying to make inroads in the southern states and is hoping to increase its tally in Telangana, where it got four of the 17 seats in 2019.
Reddy said the Lok Sabha elections are between the Congress and the BJP and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is “irrelevant”.
“In Karnataka, we will get 22-25 seats. In Telangana too we will get double-digit seats. Congress is rattled and is distributing money. In the recent local elections, the BJP leader faced a few ‘setbacks’ and lost some elections, but we are aggressive for the parliamentary elections,” Reddy asserted.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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