Asaduddin Owaisi, Amit Shah spar over BJP's promise to scrap Muslim reservation in Telangana

Amit Shah’s promise of scrapping Muslim community’s reservation once the BJP acquires power in Telangana has drawn flak from AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. The Muslim leader took a jibe at Shah on Sunday, saying the BJP has no vision for the state “besides anti-Muslim hate speech”, as per a Hindustan Times report.

Owaisi criticised the BJP saying, “All it can offer is fake encounters, curfews, releasing criminals and bulldozers. Why do you hate the people of Telangana so much?”

During a public meeting titled 'Vijay Sankalp Sabha', which was held at Chevella near Hyderabad, Amit Shah alleged that Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao had reserved benefits for Muslims under various schemes. Shah accused KCR of walking on Owaisi's ‘agenda’ and claimed that the steering of 'car' (the election symbol of BRS) was with Majlis and Owaisi.

Shah said, “The right of reservation belongs to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBC. We will scrap Muslim reservations.”

Replying to Shah’s statement, Owaisi said that PM Modi, on one hand, talks about reaching out to ‘Pasmanda’ Muslims, the economically and socially backward group among the community, while on the other, Shah promises to remove their reservation.

“If Shah is serious about justice for SCs, STs & OBCs, then he should introduce a constitutional amendment to remove 50% quota ceiling,” the AIMIM chief tweeted.

He further said, “Sir Amit Shah, ye 'Owaisi Owaisi' ka rona kab tak chalega? Khaali khattey dialog’aan maarte rehte. Please sometimes speak about record-breaking inflation & unemployment also. Telangana has the highest per capita income state in the country.”