Launching a scathing attack on the Congress and the INDIA bloc over their alleged proposal to grant Muslims reservation from OBC quota as outlined in their poll manifesto, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that their move was completely unconstitutional.

He criticized the Congress for its tainted history in this regard, describing the Samajwadi Party as a party which has crossed all the limits of appeasement.

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Addressing the media before leaving for a public meeting at Ghosi parliamentary constituency, the Chief Minister said: “The reservation based on religion is against the fundamental spirit of the Indian Constitution and is completely unconstitutional. Any attempt to impose Muslim reservations based on religion would pose a threat to the country’s integrity.”

Describing the rush among opposition parties to grant reservation to Muslims as dangerous, he said that the architect of the Constitution Dr BR Ambedkar had strongly opposed this in the Constituent Assembly. Despite this, the Congress and its allies are competing to provide reservations for Muslims, he added.

Chief Minister Yogi stated that during the UPA government at the Centre, the Congress made a malicious attempt in 2006 to undermine reservation for OBCs and allocate it to Muslims by forming the Justice Ranganath Misra Committee.

Similarly, the Congress attempted to make a dent into the quota for Scheduled Castes by forming a committee under Justice Rajinder Sachar to include certain Muslim communities in the category. The BJP and NDA opposed both these moves tooth and nail, he pointed out..

CM Yogi Adityanath said that when the Congress was in power in Andhra Pradesh, it granted reservations to Muslims from the OBC quota. Meanwhile, in Karnataka, the Congress government included all Muslim communities in the OBC category, thereby undermining the OBC reservations.

Attacking the opposition further, he said, “In West Bengal, the TMC government included 118 Muslim communities in the OBC category in 2010, continuously undermining OBC rights for the past 14 years.”

He stated that the decision by the Kolkata High Court regarding the allocation of OBC reservation benefits to Muslims is a strong rebuke to the unconstitutional actions of the TMC government. By clearly stating that reservation based on religion is unconstitutional, the Kolkata High Court has excluded all Muslim communities from OBC reservations.

Chief Minister Yogi stated that the parties in the INDIA bloc can go to any extent to appease Muslims.

“RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav has already asserted that all Muslims should receive reservations in Bihar. Now, the question arises: where will these reservations come from? These individuals intend to provide reservations to Muslims by undermining reservations meant for OBCs, SCs, and STs,” Yogi remarked.

Taking a dig at the Samajwadi Party, CM Yogi asserted: “The SP has maintained an avowed, anti-Hindu stand while pandering to Muslims. The party is opposed to Hindus including among others Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.”

The Chief Minister also noted that the Samajwadi Party had pushed for reservations for Muslims in their election manifestos of 2012 and 2014.

Additionally, during the SP government’s tenure in Uttar Pradesh, 54 companies of the PAC were disbanded, compromising the security of the state’s population of 20 crore. At one point, the SP had tried to implement a 15 per cent reservation for Muslims in PAC recruitment, which was challenged in court.

He mentioned that the nation was divided along religious lines. Therefore, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar opposed religious-based reservations, explicitly stating that there should be no such reservations within the country.

The CM highlighted that reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Reservations for Other Backward Classes are granted based on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.

Chief Minister Yogi stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party opposes any form of Muslim reservation to ensure the preservation of reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs.

“Muslim reservation is unconstitutional. If there is an attempt to impose such a practice, it will pose a threat to the integrity of the nation. Reservation based on religion is a disrespect to the Constitution made by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said.