Shabbir Ali Slams KCR Over Muslims Reservation

Leader Of Opposition in the Telangana State Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir today condemned State Deputy Chief Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali for questioning the "seriousness" of the previous Congress governments in implementing the 4% Muslim reservation quota, and slammed Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao over the "delay" in allocating 12% quota in educational institutions to Muslims.

In a media statement, Shabbir Ali ridiculed the Deputy CM by saying that he (Mahmood Ali) lacked clarity on the subject of Muslim reservation.

Defending the Congress, he claimed that the Party had provided reservations to Muslims in exactly 58 days of coming to power in 2004.

Despite legal hurdles, the 5% reservations and then the 4% reservations for Muslims was implemented for nearly 12 years, he said. It was only during 2005-06 that the 5% quota for Muslims implemented in educational institutions was scrapped off due to legal issues.

The reservation had benefitted more than 10 lakh backward Muslims in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during the last 12 years, Shabbir Ali said.

Shabbir Ali said that all cases of reservation, including the 69% quota in Tamil Nadu, was subjudice. Similarly, the case of 4% Muslim reservation was pending before the Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court. However, the then Congress regime had effectively represented the case in the Supreme Court and secured a stay to continue the implementation of 4% quota in jobs and education.

Turning the question around, the Congress leader said that the Deputy CM said, "KCR promised to give 12% reservation to Muslims within the first four months of coming to power. Mahmood Ali should pull up the Chief Minister for his failure to honour the promise. Instead of being apologetic for not fulfilling the promise, the TRS government is finding fault with the Congress party which has only empowered Muslims educationally, economically and politically."