The five per cent reservation to the Muslim community was raised by Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi and Congress legislator Amin Patel in the state assembly on Thursday.
The house witnessed a war of words between minority affairs minister Nawab Malik and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis. Malik said the previous Congress-NCP government had decided to give 16 per cent Maratha reservation and 5 per cent Muslim reservation.
However, he claimed that the BJP government did not proceed on the Muslim quota while the Maratha reservation, which was provided by the Fadnavis-led government, has been scrapped by the Supreme Court. “NCP in its manifesto is committed to provide reservation to the Muslim community. However, the apex court has ruled that new reservations cannot be made in Maharashtra unless the 50 per cent quota limit is relaxed,” he told the house.
Malik said unless the Centre amends the Constitution and relaxes the 50 per cent quota ceiling, the reservation issue cannot be resolved. However, Fadnavis claimed that reservation based on religion cannot be provided. “Andhra Pradesh has enacted a law to provide Muslim quota but it was struck down by the Supreme Court and the High Court. Various judgements of the apex court are linked to the basic structure in which no quota can be provided beyond the 50 per cent quota ceiling,” he noted.
