Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has alleged the BJP was planning on completely doing away with reservation for marginalised communities in the near future.
His remark comes amid the ongoing political tussle between the BJP and the Congress over quota for Muslims.
Congress leader Revanth Reddy reportedly said the BJP would scrap reservations by 2025, the centenary year of its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"By 2025, RSS will complete 100 years. They are trying to scrap SC, ST, OBC reservations by 2025. Many times, RSS and BJP leaders have commented about reservations," the Reddy said at a rally on Thursday.
He said the BJP had previously halted the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, which proposed reservations for Backward Classes (BC).
He alleged the BJP’s goal of ‘abki baar 400 paar’ was aimed at winning 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections to have the numbers in Parliament to scrap quotas for SC, ST and BC communities.
"Few people are supporting the BJP, which is trying to scrap reservations. These Lok Sabha elections are a referendum on SC, ST, BC reservations," he was quoted as saying.
Reddy's statement follows remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a rally in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, where he bashed the Congress party's stance on reservations.
Modi had also taken a dig at Revanth Reddy, saying that the "Congress Chief Minister of Telangana" would "ensure reservation for Muslims".
"The Congress wants to snatch reservation from SCs/STs/OBCs and give it to its special vote-bank," Modi had said.
"This action of the Congress is an alarm bell for the OBC communities of the entire country," he had said.
