Talking to reporters in Lucknow, he trained his guns on his former party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav saying his promise of 18 per cent reservation for Muslims was not feasible. It was a mere eyewash and was meant to mislead Muslims, the Congress leader said. Justifying the sub-quota within quota for Muslims, the Union minister said their condition was even worse than backwards.
Alleging the Samajawadi Party chief was shedding crocodile tears for Muslims, he said during his tenure as chief minister, Yadav appointed over 22,000 police constables and 74 per cent of them were from a particular caste. Muslims comprised not even one per cent, Verma said adding Mulayam acted as if he was the chief minister of a particular caste.
The minister alleged 500 appointments were made in the Uttar Pradesh secretariat and none of them was a Muslim.
On his recent sub-quota remarks following which he was issued a notice by the Election Commission, Verma said he had closely seen the plight of the community and carried a picture of their dismal state in his mind which was the reason behind his statement. "The remarks are not politically motivated. I have seen their sorry condition, especially those of backward Muslims who are landless and who do not have permanent income."
"Even Dalits have benefited from reservation and not Muslims who need a separate quota as they cannot compete with the creamy layer within the OBC," he said.
He said in the event of the Congress coming to power in UP, separate quota would be provided to them as they had been denied justice till date. Verma flayed the Bharatiya Janata Party for saying that sub-quota within quota for Muslims would eat into the rights and interests of backwards. "The BJP should desist from such dramatics. The interest of the backwards will not be comprised with sub-quota within quota for minorities," he said.
To a question, the minister said nine castes, including Nishads and Rajbhars, had also not got their due in the OBC quota. These should either be included in the SC list or the provision of a separate annexure like that in Bihar should be brought for them.
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