Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lashed out at the Congress following the removal of 4 per cent OBC reservation for Muslims in Karnataka and said that there is no provision in the Constitution for religion-based reservations. In a cabinet meeting, held on Friday, the Karnataka government abolished the 4 per cent OBC reservation for Muslims and gave it to the two major communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas.
The government also decided to include OBC Muslims in the 10% Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category. The "Garota Shaheed Smarak" and a Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel memorial were originally inaugurated by Shah. In Karnataka, he also hoisted a 103-foot national flag.
Shah was addressing a public meeting in poll-bound Karnataka when he said, "Reservations provided to the minority was not as per Constitution. There is no provision in the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion. Congress Government due to its polarisation politics provided reservation to the minority. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) scrapped that reservation and provided reservations to Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities," as quoted by news agency ANI.
Attacking the Congress party, the Union Home Minister said that in greed of vote bank, they never commemorated the martyrs of independence and 'Hyderabad Mukti'. He said, "Due to Congress' politics of polarisation, in the greed for the vote bank, they never commemorated the people who sacrificed themselves for independence and 'Hyderabad mukti'."
"If Sardar Patel had not been there, Hyderabad would have never attained independence. Bidar too would not have attained independence," he further said, as quoted by ANI.
While highlighting the sacrifice of people in Gorata village who were allegedly killed by the army of a cruel Nizam for hosting a 2.5-ft tall Tricolour, Shah said, "In this Gorata village, hundreds of people were killed by the army of a cruel Nizam for hoisting just a 2.5-ft tall Tricolour. Today, I proudly say that on the same land, we have hoisted a 103-ft tall Tricolour that can't be hidden from anyone".
In honour of the immortal martyrs, Shah unveiled a 20-foot-tall statue of Sardar Patel and Garota Shaheed Smarak. He noted that the statue signifies the vital role that the nation's first Home Minister played. The Union Home Minister said, "On the same land, a memorial of those immortal martyrs has been erected. This 20-ft tall statue of Sardar Patel is a symbol of the significant role played by our first Home Minister in ousting the Nizam from Hyderabad. That is why this area, this Bidar could become a part of India."