Lalu says Muslims should get reservation ‘in full’, Modi says ‘snatching quota’
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said Muslims should get reservation in full, whereas PM Modi said it only means the INDIA bloc wants to snatch the quota of SC, ST and OBCs for giving it to Muslims
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said Muslims should get reservation “in full”, evoking a sharp reaction from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who asserted that it only means INDIA bloc wants to “snatch” quota of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes for giving it to Muslims.

Lau said “Muslims should get reservation in full” when asked by reporters to comment on Modi’s allegations that INDIA bloc wants to give reservation to Muslims based on religious grounds in violation of the Constitution.
The RJD chief was speaking to reporters at the swearing in ceremony of 11 newly elected MLCs, including chief minister Nitish Kumar and former CM Rabri Devi, at the Bihar legislative council.
Reacting to Lalu’s statement, Modi at an election rally in Madhya Pradesh in the afternoon, said, “The person, a key ally of INDIA bloc, who is convicted in fodder scam and out on bail, has today said Muslims should get reservation. That is not all. He has said Muslims should get reservation in full. It only means, they (INDIA bloc) want to snatch the reservation of SC/ST and OBCs for giving reservation to Muslims.”
Lalu told reporters that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling coalition was keen to change the Constitution and wondered whether they support the reservation system in the country. “They (BJP) want to amend the Constitution and end democracy. This has gone deep into the minds of people in the country,” he said.
Later, speaking to news agency ANI, Lalu said the basis of reservation is always social and not religion. “The reservation to various castes as per the Mandal Commission was based on social conditions. Religion cannot be a basis for reservation,” he said.
He said he was the one who had steered the implementation of the Mandal Commission report for reservation in jobs and educational institutions for OBCs. “It was former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had formed a national commission to review the working of the Constitution. They (BJP) want to amend the Constitution,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Modi at an election meeting in Bihar’s Darbhanga had said the framers of Indian Constitution led by Dr B R Ambedhkar had deliberated long on the pros and cons of giving reservation based on religion and had concluded it should not be provisioned. “Even Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed reservation based on religion,” he said
He said the Congress, after losing its support among OBCs and marginalised sections, is making a sinister plan to reduce the quota limit of backward classes and scheduled castes for giving more reservation to Muslims.
In other rallies, Modi had also referred to how the Karnataka government led by Congress had put the Muslims in the southern state in the OBC list.
“I am challenging the Congress and its allies to give in writing that they would not snatch the reservation of backward classes/ scheduled castes / tribe on basis of religion to give reservation to Muslims. They should write that INDIA bloc would not play with Constitution by giving reservation based on religion. Such a move would only deprive the quota for backward community and scheduled caste/ tribe. But as long as I am alive, I would not allow any tinkering with reservation for OBCs/ SC and STs,” Modi had said.
Modi had also accused the RJD chief of advocating for separate quota for Muslims in railways in 2007 when he was the Union railway minister in the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Lalu on Tuesday told reporters that the BJP was only provoking people by making statements such as “Jungle Raj” to refer to the RJD rule in Bihar. “They are provoking people. They are scared now and making all sorts of statements,” he said.
On the BJP’s campaign tagline ‘400 paar (crossing 400 seats)’, Lalu said, “There is no 400, it is only ‘ paar’ (gone to the pavilion).”
The RJD chief, whose party is contesting 23 seats in alliance with five other parties including left parties and Congress as part of the Mahagatbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar and the INDIA bloc at the national level, also claimed people have extended full support to the opposition alliance in the five seats where voting took place during the third phase on Tuesday.
Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura, Khagaria were the constituencies where voting took place on Tuesday.
