Gadkari terms reservation to Muslims under OBC as Congress' vote-bank politics - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Thursday criticised the Congress-led government at the Centre over giving reservations to the Muslim community under Other Backwards Class (OBC) category on religious bases as he views it nothing but 'vote-bank politics'. "It is so unfortunate that we are talking about reservation. The 10 percent reservation being given on the basis of religion is wrong. And the way the entire thing is being presented is just plain vote-bank politics being played. The party is only doing it to garner more votes in the next election. I am definite that this reservation will prove harmful for the country. This is a wrong policy being adopted," said Gadkari. The Justice Ranganath Misra Commission recognizes extreme Muslim backwardness, and has recommended a 10 percent quota exclusively for the community, in jobs and education. Gadkari, however, said that this is just a strategy being adopted by the ruling Congress party to fulfill its political ambitions. "Because of political ambition, the whole issue of who is more backward has arisen. Now everyone wants to prove, 'I am backward'. This is just vote-bank politics. In the 63 years since Independence, what has the Congress party done for the Muslims? They have just employed Muslims as tea vendors, junkyard-owner, truck drivers, cleaners and nothing else," Gadkari added. It may be recollected that Union Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday (March 31) said the Centre was committed to provide reservations for the backward sections of Muslims, after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of four percent reservation for the same in Andhra Pradesh. But the minister also said that other means and tools for helping the backward communities needed to be sought as well.