Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy today termed the Maharashtra government's move to provide 4.5 per cent reservation for Muslims as "unconstitutional."
Rudy said that it was against the constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religious.
He said, "When Andhra Pradesh government did such reservation then the High court had rejected that. We all know that it's being done keeping in mind the elections, which are to be held in the month of September and October. After their Lok Sabha defeat, the Congress party is making a last ditch effort."
Rudy said, "People of Maharashtra have decided that they will choose BJP Government for their state and that the Congress is making feeble attempts to restore their position. It's not going to work."
On Wednesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had given his nod to 16 per cent reservation to Marathas and 4.5 percent reservation for Muslims in the educational institutions and government jobs.
ALSO READ:
No political agenda behind Muslim quota: Nasim Khan
Amid uproar over 5% quota for Muslims, Minorities Welfare Minister Nasim Khan says that the decision was not based on religious considerations but on grounds of backwardness. Speaking to Dhaval Kulkarni, Khan tried to assuage the objections by backward Muslims who charge that religion-based quotas will largely benefit upper-caste Muslims. Here are excerpts
OBC activists, critics slam quota to Marathas and Muslims
While the government has granted 16% quotas to Marathas on grounds of educational and social backwardness, its claims that the community forms 32% of the state's population has been contested by OBC activists and critics, who say the numbers have not been derived from any caste-based census. The state Gazetteer department's publication "Maharashtra: Land and its People" said according to the 1931 census (last caste census), the total Maratha and Kunbi population "living in present Maharashtra was 77,12,030 and constituted 23.63% of the total population." Read more
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}