Hyderabad: Civil Supplies and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy has warned that the democracy in India could be in peril if Narendra Modi secures a third term as Prime Minister.
Uttam Kumar Reddy made these remarks on Thursday while addressing a series of meetings in Mothe, Nadigudem, Munagala and Kodad in Surpyapet district in support of Congress candidate K Raghuveera Reddy from the Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency.
Referring to Modi's speech during his recent visit to Sangareddy, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Modi failed to specify clearly that the BJP would not change the Constitution if voted to power. Stating that the BJP and RSS have often indicated that they are against the reservation system, he said there was always a danger that if the BJP came to power again, it would scrap the reservation system.
He said Modi cited two or three instances wherein he took the Constitution in an elephant procession and another instance of him bowing down before the Constitution.
"The Constitution drafted by Dr B R Ambedkar is not just a book, but it is the spirit of democracy, which Modi assaulted several times by bringing several controversial laws in the last ten years. They included three contentious farm laws, which he withdrew following massive agitation from farmers. The BJP government may not change the cover page of the Constitution, but step-by-step they want to replace the provisions to implement the RSS agenda of scrapping the reservation," he alleged.
Uttam Kumar Reddy slammed Modi for misleading the people by accusing the Congress of snatching away the reservation from SC, ST and BCs and giving it away to Muslims. He challenged Modi to prove a single instance in history where a reservation quota belonging to one community was removed and given to another community, including Muslims. He said Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders are targeting the four per cent Muslim reservation in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
He said in 2004-05, the four per cent quota was given separately without touching the quota for other communities: SCs – 15 per cent, ST – 6 per cent and BCs – 25 per cent. BJP is trying to make a 20-year-old decision an election issue despite the fact that a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court would take the final decision on a 4 per cent Muslim quota, he said.
He alleged that Modi was afraid of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's promise to conduct the caste census across the country and give every community its due share in resources and opportunities. Instead of cheating the Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs by promising to distribute only 4 per cent of the quota after snatching it from Muslims, he challenged Modi to announce reservations for all communities in proportionate to their population as stipulated in Article 16 of the Constitution.
He claimed neither PM Modi nor any BJP leader dared to make this announcement. He said the BJP aimed to win 400 seats in Lok Sabha so they could change the Constitution and scrap reservation. “Congress stands for social justice and increased reservation for SC, ST and OBCs in proportionate to their population, and after coming to power, it will lift the 50 per cent ceiling on quota,” he said.
