In a setback to the Congress-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance formed ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, RLD's national general secretary Shahid Siddiqui has resigned from the party.
Mr. Siddiqui, who is also the Editor of Nai Duniya , told The Hindu that he was deeply disappointed with the 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities announced by the Union government.
‘Cruel joke'
The Congress had played a cruel joke on Muslims by “seeming to give them reservation when in fact there was nothing to give.” He called the quota a “political fraud” and a betrayal of the Congress' promise to deliver justice to Muslims. “Since the RLD is in a pact with the Congress, I cannot stay in the party,” he said.
A state of expectation
Muslims had worked themselves into a state of expectation over the quota, which had turned out to be a mirage. “The community wanted 10 per cent reservation for all Muslims as recommended by the Ranganath Misra Commission. What they have got instead is a 4.5 per cent minority quota within the 27 per cent OBC quota,” he said.
Pointing to the Sachar Committee's finding that OBC Muslims were even more backward than Dalits, he said, “OBC Muslims can never hope to compete with their Christian and Sikh counterparts. And my fear is that they won't get even the 3 percentage points share that they currently get in the 27 per cent quota.”
The quota-within-quota sop would hurt Muslims in multiple ways. It would give a handle to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which would crank up the issue to get upper caste Hindu votes.
No tangible benefits
It would alienate the Hindu OBCs, who would resent the dilution of the 27 per cent quota. And it would give Muslims no tangible benefits. “The BJP will raise the Muslim bogey when in truth Muslims will get nothing.”
Playing with emotions
Mr. Siddiqui cited the RLD's “neglect of Muslims, who form 30 to 40 per cent in large parts of western U.P.” as his other reason for quitting the party. “The RLD is obsessed with Jats, while the Congress is playing with the emotions of Muslims.”
He refused to say where he was headed next, but sources in the Samajwadi Party said he might join the party.
