Telugu Desam Party chief and former Andhra Pradesh N CM Chandrababu Naidu reiterate his promise to preserve the four per cent quota to Muslims under the Other Backward Caste (OBC) category. "From the beginning, we are supporting a four per cent reservation for Muslims and that will continue," Chandrababu Naidu promised while speaking to reporters in Dharmavaram on Sunday.
Earlier on May 2, he promised the same at his electoral rally at the Praja Galam in Guntur. As per reports, he said, “We will preserve 4 percent reservation for Muslims and provide Rs 5,000 in financial assistance every month for mosque maintenance in the state.”
What TDP has promised to Muslims?
Besides preserving quotas for Muslims, the BJP’s Andhra ally has promised to offer financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh to Muslims for undertaking the Haj Yatra and provide Rs 5 lakh interest-free loans through the minority finance corporation. To lure Muslim voters in the state, he also promised to establish the Noor Basha Corporation and allocate Rs 100 crore annually for the community.
"We will provide pensions for individuals from minority communities above the age of 50. Additionally, we will allocate spaces for Eidgahs and graveyards in major towns for minorities," the TDP chief added. Additionally, he promised to provide honorariums of Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 to Imams and Maujans respectively.
Political strife over Muslim reservation under OBC category
Naidu’s major announcement regarding Muslims, especially the preservation of quota comes at a time when the BJP is furiously cornering Congress for provisioning same in the state it is ruling. From Prime Minister Modi to every other leader of the BJP has been hypocritical of Congress. While addressing a rally in Gujarat’s Banaskantha on May 1, PM Modi vividly said that the Congress wants to loot the reservation of SC, ST and OBC and give it to Muslims.
Earlier on April 30, PM Modi asserted in his Zaheerabad rally in Telangana that he will not allow the reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and other deprived groups to be taken away and given to Muslims, based on religion.
Notably, BJP is in alliance with Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena. All the 25 seats of Andhra Pradesh will go to polls in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 13.
ALSO READ | Why is Karnataka government at centre of controversy over Muslim reservation in OBC quota? Know here
