Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: BJP claims Cong's Maharashtra unit has assured Muslim body of 10% reservation

The BJP on Saturday claimed that the Maharashtra unit of Congress has assured a Muslim body that it will take steps to fulfil its demands including a 10 per cent quota for the minority community in jobs and education and a ban on the RSS if Maha Vikas Aghadi is voted to power in the state assembly polls.

Addressing a press conference here at the BJP headquarters, senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the All India Ulama Board (AIUB) has written to Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders offering its conditional support in the assembly elections.

“In its letter, the organisation has said that if Nana Patole (Congress), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT), Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP) and other parties want their support they will have to fulfil their demands which include opposition to Waqf Bill, 10 per cent reservation to Muslims in jobs and education...,” he claimed.

It has also demanded a ban on the RSS if the MVA is voted to power in Maharashtra, Prasad claimed, terming the organisation’s demands as “divisive and a charter for the disintegration of the country”.

What is “painful” here is that the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee in its reply to the organisation has assured that it will “definitely” take steps to fulfil their demands if voted to power in Maharashtra, the BJP leader claimed.

“We vehemently oppose such disruptive demands. We will never let them be implemented,” he said, adding that the BJP will also “expose the so-called INDIA coalition” before the people and show that they can go to any extent for votes.

Prasad said that Muslims cannot be given a 10 per cent quota on the basis of religion as it is not permissible under the Constitution.

If a 10 per cent quota is given to Muslims on other grounds it will slash the existing share in reservations meant for the OBCs, SCs and STs, he said and asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi if it is acceptable to them.

Flaying Shiv Sena (UBT) on the issue, Prasad said, “It’s no more Shiv Sena, led and founded by late Bala Saheb Thackeray. It’s now an organisation out to grab power by making all compromises.”

He said the RSS is a nationalist organisation that has done “historic work” in the service of the nation and society, and slammed Uddhav Thackeray.

"What has happened to you, Uddhav Thackeray? You forgot your own legacy. Balasaheb Thackeray had struggled so much against these things… You are his son.”

”We vehemently condemned it. It's very painful because we were once together,” the BJP leader said as he accused Uddhav Thackery of deviating from his party’s original ideology.

Prasad also took on Sharad Pawar, asking why he has kept silent on the issue.

“You are a seasoned player. I know you understand the Constitution. You are 80 plus and you command a lot of respect there.

"Did you make them understand that it’s not possible (to fulfil AIUB’s demands)... How far will you go for votes,” he said.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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