New Delhi: Prime Narendra Modi’s assertion at the Banswara rally in Rajasthan on Sunday created a political storm forward of the second part of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 with allegations and counter-allegations galore from all quarters. The Prime Minister throughout the rally attacked the Congress get together and stated that if the ‘Grand Old Party’ got here to energy it could redistribute the wealth of individuals to Muslims and cited former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 2006 comment that the minority neighborhood had the primary declare on the nation’s sources.
PM Modi stated the Congress had introduced that it could conduct a survey to discover out the property of people, gold owned by girls, silver largely owned by tribal households, land and money belonging to authorities workers and others, and redistribute it amongst these ‘with extra youngsters’. “This urban-naxal mindset, my mothers and sisters, they will not even leave your ‘Mangalsutra’. They can go to that level,” PM Modi stated in Banswara.
The PM additionally took a swipe at the Congress party’s election manifesto ‘Nyay Patra’ and alleged that the get together is trapped in the clutches of the Leftists and concrete Naxals and that what Congress has stated in its manifesto is critical and worrying.
Why did PM Modi take a ‘wealth re-distribution’ jibe at Congress?
According to sources, PM Modi’s handle in Rajasthan is instantly linked with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s April 6 assertion in Hyderabad on ‘wealth re-distribution’. “We will do a caste census so that the backwards, SCs, STs, poor of general castes and minorities get to know how much they account for in the country. Thereafter, a financial and institutional survey to find who holds the country’s wealth will be taken up. Whatever is your right, we will work on giving you the same,” Rahul Gandhi stated.
What did Congress promise in its manifesto?
The Congress launched its manifesto on April 5 and promised a nationwide socio-economic and caste census. “Congress will conduct a nation-wide socio-economic and caste census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. Based on the data, we will strengthen the agenda for affirmative action,” reads the manifesto.
Some different components of the Congress manifesto which could possibly be seen as referring to redistribution are:
The Congress ensures that it’ll move a constitutional modification to elevate the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.
Congress will set up an authority to monitor the distribution to the poor of presidency land and surplus land beneath the land ceiling Acts.
We will handle the rising inquality of wealth and revenue by means of appropriate modifications in insurance policies.
Parts of the Congress manifesto from the ‘minorities’ part:
We will encourage and help college students and youth belonging to the minorities to take full benefit of the rising alternatives in training, employment, enterprise, providers, sports activities, arts one other fields.
We will be sure that the minorities obtain their justifiable share of alternatives in training, healthcare, public employment, public works contracts, ability improvement, sports activities and cultural actions with out discrimination.
According to sources, the BJP believes that the Congress manifesto’s level that claims ‘encourage minorities to take full benefit of alternatives’ and one other level that reads ‘guarantee minorities obtain justifiable share’ on the identical points point out reservation for Muslims. The Congress party’s assure {that a} 50 per cent restrict on reservations will likely be raised additionally hints at that route if all of the factors are taken collectively.
Congress’s report on Muslim reservation
The Congress party’s observe report on Muslim reservation has been controversial since 2004. The Andhra Pradesh authorities of the Congress tried to implement Muslim reservation 4 instances between the interval of 2004 and 2010 however failed due to the intervention by the Andhra Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court as there’s a 50 per cent restrict set by courts on the reservation.
Let’s see the timeline:
July 12, 2004: The newly elected Congress authorities in Andhra Pradesh led by YSR Reddy introduced its resolution to introduce a 5 per cent reservation for Muslims in authorities jobs and academic establishments.
September 21, 2004: Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the order of Muslim reservation.
November, 2004: In response, the Congress CM YSR Reddy arrange the D Subrahmanyam Commission in November 2004.
June 14, 2005: Justice D Subrahmanyam Commission submitted its report recommending the inclusion of Muslims and accorded 5 per cent reservation. The suggestion, if carried out, would have breached the 50 per cent restrict set by the Supreme Court.
June 20, 2005: To overcome the HC order quashing the Muslim reservation, the Andhra Pradesh authorities issued an ordinance for a 5 per cent Muslim reservation in instructional establishments and jobs.
October 25, 2005: The state had moved a invoice in the Assembly, changing the ordinance into an act, primarily based on a report additionally submitted to it by the Andhra Pradesh Commission for Backward Classes (APBC).
November 21, 2005: A five-judge bench of the Andhra High Court held that reservations for Muslims have been unconstitutional. The HC held that figuring out Muslims as a backward class was primarily based on unscientific and faulty standards.
December 14, 2005: The Andhra Pradesh authorities challenged the HC resolution in the Supreme Court.
January 4, 2006: The SC granted a restricted interim keep on the HC verdict. Those already recruited primarily based on the reservation act have been allowed to keep on however all future recruitments primarily based on the reservation have been stopped.
2006: Arjun Singh, one of many senior-most Cabinet ministers in the Manmohan Singh authorities, additionally reiterated that Muslims might be given reservation.
April 17, 2007: With each the Andhra HC and the SC holding that the suggestions of the Andhra Pradesh Commission for Backward Classes (APBC) have been unscientific and had no connection to floor realities, the Andhra authorities referred the matter afresh to the Backward Classes Commission and likewise to one other group headed by retired civil servant PS Krishnan.
June 11, 2007: PS Krishan submitted a report which recognized 14 backward teams amongst Muslims.
July 3, 2007: The Andhra Pradesh Backward Commission advisable a 4 per cent reservation for 15 teams amongst Muslims.
July 7, 2007: Based on a brand new suggestion of ABPC, the Andhra authorities once more issued an order for a 4 per cent reservation for Muslims.
February 8, 2010: A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court by a majority judgement of 5:2 held that the regulation offering 4 per cent reservation to backward-class Muslims in the state was unsustainable and violative of Article 14, 15(1) and 16(2) of the Constitution.
March 25, 2010: The Supreme Court in an interim measure upheld the constitutional validity of the 4 per cent reservation and referred the matter to a Constitutional bench for last adjudication.
December 22, 2011: The UPA authorities issued an Office Memorandum carving out a sub-quota of 4.5 per cent for Muslims, out of the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in central instructional establishments and jobs.
May 29, 2012: The Andhra HC quashed this newest 4.5 per cent Muslim reservation transfer by the central authorities as nicely.
June 13, 2012: The SC refused to keep the Andhra HC order. The SC stated the reservation order of the UPA authorities was primarily based solely on non secular consideration and never supported by the Constitution.
June 5, 2013: Ok Rahman Khan, the minority affairs minister, once more said the UPA is dedicated to implement a 4.5 per cent Muslim quota.
February 2014: Finally, the UPA authorities went to the SC to plead for Muslim reservation. The SC agreed to membership the central Muslim quota case of the UPA authorities with the Andhra Pradesh Muslim quota case and listen to the matter by means of a Constitutional bench.
Karnataka reservation case:
The Karnataka authorities led by the BJP in 2023 scrapped the Muslim quota of 4 per cent and elevated the quota of Lingayats and Vokkaligas by 2 per cent every. However, Congress leaders promised restoration of the Muslim quota if voted again to energy simply forward of the Karnataka Assembly Elections in 2023.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and different BJP leaders are attacking the Congress and Rahul Gandhi on this report of the get together in the continued Lok Sabha Elections. Perhaps Congress wants to return to introspect on its observe report and actions in the past.
