Telangana polls: BJP will abolish religion-based reservation, increase ST, OBC quota..., says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in poll-bound Telangana on November 18, said the party would abolish religion-based reservation and increase the quota of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) if elected to power.

In Telangana, backward members of the minority Muslim community are currently eligible for four percent reservation in education and government jobs. The state's overall Muslim population is estimated to be 12.7 percent, on the basis of the last census.

Both, the Congress and state-ruling Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) are “anti-backward class” parties, and only the BJP can “do good for backward class”, Shah said at a public rally in Gadwal, according to news agency PTI.

Also Read: Telangana Election 2023: Congress announces 6 guarantees — Free bus travel for women, 200 units free electricity

The BJP government in the state will “abolish religion-based reservation” and “increase quota of OBCs and STs”, he was further reported as saying.

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Telangana will vote in a single-phase election on November 30. The counting of votes has been scheduled by the Election Commission on December 3.

The southern state, formed in 2014 after being carved out from Andhra Pradesh, has so far been ruled by the K Chandrasekhara Rao-led BRS (earlier known as TRS).

Also Read: 'KCR nazar nahin milate': PM Modi says Telangana CM was rebuffed after wanting to join NDA

Rao, who is seeking a third term in power, is primarily facing a challenge from the Congress and the BJP. 

Shah, during his rally in Gadwal, said the “time has come to give VRS to BRS and retire it”. He accused the Congress, BRS and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) of being “dynastic parties” and charged them of failing to facilitate development in Telangana.

The Union home minister also promised that the BJP, if elected to power, “would arrange free darshan of Ram temple in Ayodhya for all”.