Karnataka: BJP MLC CT Ravi criticises TDP’s Muslim reservation policy

MANGALURU: Senior BJP leader and newly elected MLC CT Ravi on Saturday said that his party will continue to strongly oppose religious based reservation and there will be no change in the party’s stand over the contentious issue.

Responding to a query on what will be the BJP’s stand over NDA ally Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) statement that four percent reservation to Muslim’s will continue in Andhra Pradesh, Ravi said Dr B R Ambedkar had strongly opposed religious based reservation in the meetings of Constitutional committee and one should not forget that it is against the aspirations of the Constitution.

“Religious reservation is against Ambedkar’s thinking and the aspirations of the Constitution. He had very clearly said during the debates of Constitutional Committee as to why he opposed religious reservations. You can give reservation based on caste and economical aspects but the Constitution itself does not allow religious reservation as it will be anti-Constitutional. The issue is in the court and we have to wait and what whether the court will allow anti-Constitutional subject. We will also oppose it in the court. One should not forget that religius based reservation led to division of the country. Our party stand is clear that we are not in favour of religious reservation,” he said

Ravi took serious objection to Mangaluru city police commissioner Anupal Agarwal’s statement that abusing Muslims by describing them as Pakistanis led to stabbing of two BJP workers in Boliyar. “The commissioner should not act as a puppet of communal forces or any political party and instead give priority to law and order,” he said.

Further, he found nothing wrong in BJP workers describing some people as Pakistanis. “If they are not Pakistanis, they why did they got provoked,” he asked and urged Legislative assembly speaker UT Khader and police commissioner to deport ‘Pakistanis’ from the city

Ravi also took objection to Khader and district minister Dinesh Gundu Rao not visiting the two injured BJP workers in the hospital and said they would have done it if they were ‘Pakistanis’.

Launching a broadside at the Congress government in the state, he said the state has broken all previous records in murders and suicides in last 13 months after Congress came to power. He claimed that as per NCRB records, 500 murders and 700 farmer suicides took place in the last four months and attributed it to government being soft on communal forces

Further, he claimed that as per a NIA report there are more than 50 sleeper cells belongings to ISIS, Mujaiddin and other terror outfits in the state. “Khader should consider them as outsiders and not those who raise ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans,” he said.

To a query on RSS leader Indresh Kumar’s statement that arrogance led to BJP’s poor show in Lok Sabha election, Ravi said the party will take it positively