Minister vows to fight

Undeterred by his censure by the Election Commission (EC) over promising nine per cent sub-quota for the backward Muslims from the OBC quota, senior Congress leader and Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday reiterated his commitment for the “pasmanda Muslim” (backward Muslims) community and said that he would continue to fight for their rights even if he was hanged by the EC.

Addressing an election meeting at Farrukhabad from where his wife Louis Khurshid was contesting as a Congress candidate, on Friday evening the minister said that he did not think it was wrong to speak about the rights of the “pasmanda” Muslims.

“Who deserves reservation benefits if not the pasmanda Muslims…I am ready for any punishment for it…I will accept even death penalty”, Khurshid said.

 “Many restrictions have been imposed on me…I cannot speak about pasmanda Muslims.. but I will continue to raise the issue for the benefit of the community”, he went on to add.
He said that he did not think he had committed any mistake by speaking for the poor and backward Muslims.

“The benefits of reservation should be for the poor and backwards and not for the rich people”, he added.

The senior Congress leader claimed that his party would form the government in Uttar Pradesh after the Assembly polls.

The Congress party, however, sought to steer clear of the controversy.