BENGALURU: Former Chief Minister M Veerappa Moily said that the 4 per cent reservation given to Muslims under OBC quota in his regime was on scientific basis and not on the basis of the religion.
Veerappa Moily said, “This reservation was given by me when I was CM in 1993 and it was done on the basis of scientific data and not on the basis of religion. Muslims, as a class, were included in the backward category and it was absolutely legal. When we took the decision, the data was there. The BJP has scrapped this reservation without any report”.
“They should have set up a commission or at least have held consultations. There should have been a report and then a decision should have been taken on the basis of that, but nothing was done”, he added.
Veerappa Moily further stated that Congress will restore the 4 per cent reservation after coming back to power in Karnataka. “We will restore it once we come back to power. This decision is unjustified and unscientific”, he said.
He also mentioned that other Opposition parties are in consultation with Congress to fight the BJP as a united ally. “We are in talks with all those parties who want to fight the BJP. We want a fraternity among all non-NDA parties to fight against them. In that way, we will be in a position to establish opposition unity,” he said.
He further claimed that some of the BJP leaders in Karnataka are unhappy with the party’s leadership. “The BJP leaders are frustrated in the state due to the dictatorship of BJP’s top leadership. Former deputy CM Laxman Savadi is totally angry with them and he has already quit the BJP. Now it is for him and Congress leaders to discuss the future”, he said. (ANI)