Kishan Reddy Slams CM Over 4 PC Muslim Quota Pledge

Hyderabad: Union minister G. Kishan Reddy on Friday sharply criticised Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for advocating permanent 4 per cent religion-based reservations for Muslims, and alleged that here was a move to bring in 14 per cent quota for the community, 4 per cent through the religious quota and another 10 per cent “smuggled” into Backward Classes (BC) through a manipulated caste survey.

In a statement, Kishan Reddy accused the Congress of turning into a “Muslim League Congress” through vote-bank appeasement and recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remark on the matter.

Kishan Reddy said the quota for Muslims, introduced by Congress in undivided Andhra Pradesh, was twice struck down by the High Court as unconstitutional before being allowed to persist under a stay order. Kishan Reddy alleged that the Chief Minister’s “two-pronged strategy” aimed at 14 per cent total Muslim reservations.

He accused Congress of inflating Telangana’s BC population from 46 per cent to 56 per cent by adding 10 per cent Muslims, thereby reducing the genuine BC quota from 34 per cent to 32 per cent, while allocating 42 per cent for BCs and Muslims in local bodies. “A court stay averted disaster,” he noted.

Citing the 2020 GHMC elections, Reddy said non-BCs, mainly from MIM, captured 31 of 50 BC-reserved seats (62 per cent), depriving genuine BCs of their quota.

Charging that Congress was pursuing a national-level agenda of minority appeasement at the cost of social justice, Reddy warned: “Telangana people are watching and will decisively respond at the polls, showing Revanth Reddy and Congress the door.”