Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Mohd. Ali Shabbir has stated that the Congress party would support the Bill moved by the State Government for increasing reservation for Minorities and Scheduled Tribes although the Minorities part of the Bill has several shortcomings. During the debate on the Bill in the Council on Sunday, Mr. Shabbir Ali, citing his experience in handling the issue of reservation to Minorities when the Congress was in power, said the Commission of Inquiry chaired by senior bureaucrat G. Sudhir did not conduct the public hearings but it was done by Backward Classes Commission.
Alleging that the State Government was trying to push religious reservation through backdoor, N. Ramchander Rao of BJP said it would have brought separate Bill for Scheduled Tribes if it was sincere. The government plans to increase the Scheduled Tribes quota would also be in peril in the event of somebody approaching the court against reservation to Minorities as the two aspects are clubbed into one Bill.
“There is no caste system in Muslim so far but the State Government is trying to divide them in the name of castes/communities”, the BJP leader said. Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reported statement on Muslims, he said the BJP was for uplift of the community but was against religious reservation.
Mr. Ramchander Rao walked out of the House after completing his speech as part of the debate stating that BJP would only support hike reservation to Scheduled Tribes but oppose religious reservation to Muslims in any name.
