Hyderabad: Mohammed Ali Shabbir, advisor to the govt, on Saturday demanded the BRS leaders to clarify their stand on the inclusion of Muslims under the proposed 42% BC quota in Telangana.He questioned whether BRS leaders, including former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and former ministers KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao, were supporting the BJP’s demand to remove BC-E Muslims from the BC category or backing the Congress’ efforts to enhance the BC quota.“Despite several clarifications that the BC quota is not based on religion, the BJP has been trying to polarise the issue. The silence of BRS leaders on BJP’s stand raises suspicions that they may be supporting the removal of Muslims from the BC list,” Shabbir Ali said.Accusing the BJP of communalising every issue related to minorities, he reminded that it was the previous Congress govt that introduced 4% reservation for Muslims under the BC-E category in 2004-05, benefitting over 22 lakh in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. He said that the Congress govt is fighting the case in the Supreme Court to safeguard and uphold this reservation.He further stated that the proposed 42% BC reservation in local body elections would also benefit Muslims classified under BC-E, ensuring their political representation and social upliftment.
