Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that the Opposition alliance in Maharashtra wanted to snatch reservation from Dalits and Adivasis, and redistribute it among Muslims instead.
“The leaders of the Maha [Vikas] Aghadi have become so blind in their greed for power that they want to snatch reservation from the backward classes, Dalits and Adivasis and give it to Muslims instead,” Shah alleged at a rally in Mumbai’s Borivali area. “But the people of the state will not let them succeed in their conspiracies, and will keep them away from power this time as well.”
However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s manifesto, released on November 6, does not contain any such promise. The alliance has said that it will “rectify the confusion surrounding Maratha, Dhangar, Muslim, etc reservations created during the Mahayuti government’s tenure, ensuring justice for these groups”.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party faction headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The Maha Vikas Aghadi comprises the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Sharad Pawar’s faction of the NCP and the Congress.
Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will take place in a single phase on November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23, alongside that of the Jharkhand elections.
Shah made similar claims on November 10, when he released the BJP’s manifesto for the Maharashtra elections. He claimed that a delegation of Muslim clerics submitted demands, including Muslim reservation, to state Congress chief Nana Patole, who acknowledged them, according to the Hindustan Times.
The home minister asserted that his party will not allow reservation based on religion in the country.
During the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, repeatedly claimed that the Congress would take away reservation from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, and give it to Muslims instead.
The Congress’ manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls did not talk about religion-based reservations for any community.
A total of 14 states and Union territories include Muslims in their list of Other Backward Classes, based on socio-economic indicators. Gujarat, where Modi was the chief minister for 12 years, also lists Muslim communities among Other Backward Classes.
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