Congress tried to give reservation to Muslims by reducing SC/ST quota: Modi in Rajasthan

“The right to reservation provided by Babasaheb Ambedkar to Dalits, backwards and Adivasis — Congress and INDI alliance wanted to give it to Muslims on the basis of religion,” he said.

“Congress party has toyed with Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution. When the Constitution was drafted, reservation based on religion was vehemently opposed so that SCs, STs and OBCs could get protection. But Manmohan Singh in his speech said – and I was present there as a CM – that Muslims have the first right on the country’s resources. This was not a coincidence or an isolated statement. Congress party’s thinking has always been of appeasement and vote bank politics. As soon as the Congress came to power at the Centre in 2004, the first thing it did was to try to provide reservation to Muslims by reducing SC/ST reservations in Andhra Pradesh. This was a pilot project, which Congress wanted to try in the entire country. Between 2004 and 2010, Congress tried four times to implement Muslim reservations in Andhra Pradesh. However, due to legal hurdles and awareness of the Supreme Court, they could not succeed in their plans,” he said.

“In 2011, Congress tried to implement it across the country… Congress made all these efforts despite knowing it was against the basic spirit of the Constitution. But Congress did not care about the Constitution or about Babasaheb Ambedkar. When we got a chance in Karnataka, the first thing we did was end the Muslim quota they had created out of the SC/ST quota,” he said.

Reiterating “Modi’s guarantee” that the reservation for Dalits, tribals and the backward will not be ended nor would it be divided in the name of religion, he said, “Modi understands the Constitution, is dedicated to the Constitution, and is the one who prays to Babasaheb Ambedkar.”

“I want to ask Congress, will it announce that it won’t reduce the reservation for Dalits, tribals and the backward and distribute it to Muslims? Promise this to the nation,” he said.

The remarks come two days after Modi, speaking at a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara, said that the Congress, if voted to power, could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”. “Earlier, when they (the Congress) were in power, they had said Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators,” he had said.

Doubling down on his Banswara remarks, the PM said, “When I came to Rajasthan the day before, in 90 seconds during the speech I kept some truths before the country, but it led to panic in the entire Congress and INDI alliance. I kept the truth before the nation that the Congress is hatching a deep conspiracy to snatch your property and distribute it to specific people,” he said.

He also reiterated allegations of Congress planning wealth redistribution. “You would know that they have written in the manifesto that they will survey your property, survey the streedhan, the mangalsutra held by our mothers and sisters. One of their leaders said in a speech that an X-ray will be conducted. Meaning, if there is anything kept in a bajra box inside your house, then that too will be discovered through an X-ray…,” he said.

The PM also said that had the Congress continued after 2014, “enemies would have come from across the border and taken away the heads of our soldiers, and the government would not have done anything”.

He said that on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, he is reminded of an image from a few days ago. “The image is of Congress-ruled Karnataka. A few days ago, a small shopkeeper was brutally assaulted and left bleeding merely because he was listening to the Hanuman Chalisa while sitting in his shop. Even listening to Hanuman Chalisa becomes a crime in Congress rule. It is becoming difficult to follow one’s faith under the Congress, and Rajasthan itself has been a victim.”

“Congress had imposed a ban on Ram Navami in Rajasthan, where people greet each other with Ram Ram Sa. Congress had given government protection to those who carried out stone pelting on shobha yatra,” he said.