Nanded (Maharashtra) [India], June 10 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the BJP is of the belief that the Constitution does not provide for reservation on the grounds of religion.
Addressing a public meeting organised in Nanded, Maharashtra, to mark the completion of 9 years of the BJP-led government at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Home Minister said, "The BJP believes that there should be no reservation on the grounds of religion as it is unconstitutional. (former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena UBT chief) Uddhav Thackeray should make his stand clear on this."
Also targeting Uddhav for the undivided Shiv Sena's alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) under Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), in the wake of the results of the 2019 Assembly polls, Shah said, "I was the president of the party at the time. Devendra Fadnavis and I were in Maharashtra to preside over the negotiations (with the Sena on the formation of the government should we come to power). Uddhav Thackeray had accepted that if NDA gets the majority in the 2019 elections, Fadnavis will become CM of Maharashtra. But when the results were declared and NDA won, Thackeray broke his promise and formed an alliance with Congress and NCP."
Earlier, while campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections, Shah lashed out at the Congress while defending the move of the then BJP government to roll back the 4 per cent reservation for the Muslims, saying that his party only rectified the wrong done by the grand old party by doing away with reservation for the Muslims in the state.
Addressing a meeting in Byndoor on April 29, said, "The BJP has rectified the wrong of the Congress by doing away with Muslim reservation in Karnataka. The Congress wants to restore it. We will ensure that they are not able to do so as it is unconstitutional and also compromises with the rights of the Vokkaligas, Lingayats, SCs, STs and Dalits in the state."
"BJP scrapped the 4 per cent Muslim reservation as the Constitution does not guarantee reservation on grounds of religion. The Congress has said once their reverse-gear government comes, they will restore the Muslim reservation. Do you want that?" Shah said at the rally.
While campaigning for the Karnataka polls, present Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said the Congress was committed "to increasing the reservation limit from 50 per cent to 75 per cent and extend reservation to all castes on the basis of their population".
Congress leader and former deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, K Rahman Khan, told media persons that if the party comes to power in Karnataka, Muslim reservation will be raised from 4 per cent to 6 per cent.
On May 8, in an exclusive interview with ANI, Amit Shah slammed Congress over its promise to restore quota for Muslims in Karnataka and raise the reservation to 6 per cent, saying that the party should come clean on whether it would roll back the reservation benefits to SCs, STs, Lingayats and Vokkaligas in a bid to guarantee quotas for Muslims.
Further, during the rally in Maharashtra on Saturday, he said it was only after the Congress rule ended and the BJP came to power that India started to make real progress.
"The last 9 years of PM Modi-led government have been about restoring India's pride, development, and ensuring the welfare of the poor. Only after Sonia-Manmohan rule ended and Modi-ji took command did India make real progress and ensure development," Shah said.
Shah said that India's culture and heritage were being best preserved under the dynamic leadership of PM Modi.
"India's culture and heritage are being best preserved under the strong and dynamic leadership of Modi-ji. The last 9 years of the BJP government have ensured poor welfare and good governance in a true sense," Shah added.
"Modi-ji has worked to earn the country's culture and history on the global stage. He has also worked to make the country proud. Wherever he goes today, chants of 'Modi-Modi' ring out. This is respect being accorded not just to him but the people," Shah added.
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