Hyderabad: Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Advisor to the Congress government, strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday for making false accusations against the previous Congress government regarding reservation policies in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Former minister Shabbir Ali, accused Modi of either being ignorant or deliberately spreading falsehoods about the reservation system.
He highlighted that the Congress government, led by YS Rajasekhara Reddy, had indeed implemented 4% reservations for socially and economically backward Muslim groups in Andhra Pradesh back in 2004.
Shabbir Ali expressed dismay at the Prime Minister’s attempt to mislead the majority community.
He clarified that when the Congress came to power in 2004, they introduced 5 percent reservations for Muslims by creating a new category called ‘E’ among Other Backward Classes (OBCs). This addition did not alter the existing quota of 46 percent, which comprised 15 percent for SCs, 6 percent for STs, and 25 percent for BCs.
However, since this exceeded the 50 percent ceiling on reservations for SCs imposed by the Supreme Court, the high court invalidated the quota. Subsequently, the Congress government enacted new legislation, reducing the reservation for Muslims to 4 percent
Shabbir Ali highlighted that the 4 percent reservation for Muslims was not solely based on religion. Instead, it encompassed 14 economically and socially backward castes among Muslims, as identified by the Backward Classes Commission.
