Will Congress government in Telangana bring Muslim quota in reservation? CM Revanth Reddy says...

Is the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government of Telangana considering a Muslim quota in education and jobs? Is religion-based reservation allowed in the Indian Constitution? These questions are being asked after the BJP slammed the Congress, accusing it of indulging in the politics of appeasement by extending reservation to the Muslim community. 

Congress mulling quota for 14 Muslim groups

The Congress government in this South Indian state is indeed mulling the idea of streamlining the quota benefits for 14 Muslim groups under the Backward Classes (BC) reservation regime. It will be based on the social, educational, and economic backwardness of the people and benefit more than three lakh Shia Muslim families. It is interesting to note that these 14 socially and economically backward Muslim groups had been given 4% reservation for government jobs and education under a separate category, BC (E), which restricts quota benefits for them. However, it has not been implemented due to the legal issues over allegations of a religion-based quota. 

What did Telangana CM say?

Rejecting the allegation of giving reservations to Muslims, Revanth Reddy explained that the Telangana government provides reservations based on social and educational backwardness, not religion. He also reminded the saffron party that some BJP-ruled states have been extending BC reservations to Muslim communities for decades. Slamming BJP leaders G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay, the Telangana chief minister said, "Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra have been implementing these quotas for 40 to 50 years. If you want to remove them, start in those states." Challenging the saffron party, he added, 
"First withdraw Muslim reservations in those states, then offer suggestions to Telangana." 

Revanth Reddy takes on Telangana BJP

Revanth Reddy also said that the Muslim sub-castes have been part of the BC lists since 1979. While 38 of the 87 BC castes are Muslim sub-castes in Madhya Pradesh, in Uttar Pradesh, it is five, and in Gujarat, 28. According to the state government’s data on the caste survey, the BCs constitute 56.4% of the state population. People from the Scheduled Castes constitute 17.45% of the population, 10.8% are from Scheduled Tribes, and 10.9% are from Scheduled Tribes.