Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi.
Parliament continues to be deadlocked over constitutional and reservation hurdles. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday targeted the Congress in the Union House. Amit Shah said the Congress wants to break the 50% barrier so that reservation can be easily given on the basis of religion.
Shah said in Parliament that as long as the BJP has even one member in the Lok Sabha and the Lok Sabha, religion-based reservation will not be allowed in the country. This is not the first time that the issue of Muslim reservation has come under the spotlight of any political party in Congress.
The Congress has been criticized at least five times in the past 30 years for announcing reservations for Muslims.
When did Congress become contentious about Muslim reservations?
1. Bhaskar Reddy’s announcement and departure from the government
In 1994, Kotla Bhaskar Reddy came to power in Andhra Pradesh. Reddy said in a statement that Muslims in Andhra Pradesh will get 4% reservation. To this end, Reddy also announced the names of 14 Muslim castes. He said that if the government comes to power, all these castes will be included in the OBC category.
Reddy’s statement triggered political turmoil in Andhra Pradesh. People in many places took to the streets against the Bhaskar Reddy government. The opposition TDP made this a big issue at the time.
In the 1995 elections, the Congress was disadvantaged over the issue of Muslim reservation. Reddy suffered a crushing defeat and the Democrats returned to government. The TDP flatly rejected Reddy’s proposal. Even in 1999, the Congress government did not come to power in Andhra Pradesh and the proposal was shelved thereafter.
2. YSR came and gave 5% booking fee
In 2004, the Congress Party made a strong comeback in Andhra Pradesh. YS Reddy as chief minister. Reddy announces 5% booking fee for Muslims. The government also started implementing this initiative, but the case first reached the High Court and then the Supreme Court.
The matter is currently before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court. The High Court banned the practice in 2010. Andhra Pradesh’s Muslim population accounts for about 9%. Muslims are considered an important factor in elections here. The Congress party has failed to regain power in Andhra Pradesh since 2014.
3. 2012 UP Reservation Announcement
In 2009, the Congress won 21 of the 80 seats in the Lok Sabha. Overjoyed by this victory, the Congress announced its full participation in the 2012 parliamentary elections. At that time, the command of the election management of the Congress was handed over to Salman Khurshid. The national president is Nirmal Khatri.
Salman Khurshid was then a minister in Manmohan Singh’s government. Kushed made a big announcement ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections. He said that if the Congress government comes, we will give 5% reservation to Muslims.
This statement by Khurshid caused a lot of political controversy. Lal Krishna Advani of the then-BJP called it appeasement politics. Many opposition parties, including the BSP, also questioned the Congress’ statement.
4. Clashes between Muslims and Marathas in Maharashtra
In 2014, the Maratha reservation movement gained momentum in Maharashtra. To solve this problem, the then Prithviraj Chavan government declared reservation for the Marathas. Accordingly, a separate reservation of 16% was announced to the Marathas of Maharashtra.
At the same time, the Chavan government also announced a 5% reservation for Muslims. As soon as the Muslim reservation was announced, political unrest erupted in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena and the BJP strongly opposed this.
The government decided to shelve it immediately but backed up its argument that when 16% reservation can be given to 32% Marathas, then what is the problem in giving 5% reservation to 11% Muslims?
Chavan’s government was defeated in the 2014 assembly elections, following which the BJP-Shiv Sena scrapped the Muslim reservation proposal. Later the Supreme Court also canceled the Maratha reservation.
5. Congress favors 4% reservation in Karnataka
In Karnataka, some Muslim castes used to get 4% reservation under the OBC category, but it was later withdrawn by the BJP government. The Congress government in Karnataka is now preparing to implement it again. In April 2024, the Siddaramaiah government had tried to include some Muslim castes under the OBC category, but it met with opposition.
Siddaramaiah once again favored providing 4% reservation to Muslims. He has given a lot of hints about this recently. Government Deputy Minister DK Shivkumar also announced 4% reservation in 2023 for Muslims.
