Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 7: While the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha election rallies had “vowed” that he will not allow reservation for Muslims “in his life time,” both of his key allies in the NDA have provided reservation to Muslims in their respective states and want to continue with it.
In a sharp contrast to Mr Modi’s stand on the issue, the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) leader Nara Lokesh also disagreed that providing reservation to the needy sections of the Muslims in any way amounted to “appeasement” but maintained it was needed to ensure “social justice,”
Mr Nara Lokesh is the son of the AP chief minister designate Chandrababu Naidu and had played a very key role in the resurgence of the TDP in the 2024 elections, particularly after his father was arrested and held in custody for 52 days in a money laundering case. The TDP in alliance with the BJP gave an outstanding performance in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections held simultaneously ousting the YSRCP government by securing 163 seats in the 175-member state Assembly and 16 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Particularly during the latter part of the election rallies, Mr Modi had made reservation to Muslims a major talking point cautioning the voters that if they elect the INDIA alliance headed by the Congress to the office, “they will take away the reservation benefits of the backward classes and give it to Muslims. I will not allow this to happen in my life time,” Mr Modi thundered meeting after meeting calling giving reservation to Muslims was the Congress party’s “vote bank appeasement policy.”
However, with the BJP failing to secure a clear majority of its own, the Modi3.0 government will have to move on the crutches of the TDP and the ruling alliance leader in Bihar the Janata Dal (United). Incidentally both in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, a quota for Muslims is existing and ironically the Muslim reservation was introduced when Mr Naidu in AP and Mr Kumar in Bihar were the chief ministers.
Mr Lokesh on Friday said the focus of his party after forming the government in AP would be creating jobs and uplifting the marginalised in Andhra Pradesh. Mr Lokesh said that they would continue the reservation provided to Muslims in the state, a policy that their alliance partner BJP staunchly opposes.
“It (reservation for Muslims) has been going around for the last 2 decades and we stand by it. We intend to continue it,” Mr Lokesh said. The 41-year-old said the reservation wasn’t for appeasement, but social justice as the minorities in the state have the lowest per capita income.
“It’s a fact that the minorities continue to suffer and that they have the lowest per capita income. As a government, it is my responsibility to bring them out of poverty. So whatever decisions I take are not for appeasement, but to bring them out of poverty,” he said.
“If you want to make our nation a developed nation, we cannot leave anyone behind. We should do it together and there is a great opportunity to do it. It has been the trademark of the TDP, to take everyone together,” Mr Lokesh added.
After the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu, Mr Lokesh took over the reins of the TDP and undertook a 4,000-kilometre ‘padayatra’ to reach the masses. Speaking about Mr Naidu’s arrest, the TDP leader said that it was vendetta politics and his father was wrongfully jailed for 52 days. “We are victims of vendetta politics. The rule of law should be implemented equally for everyone. No place for vendetta politics in India,” he said.
The leader also dismissed reports that the TDP is seeking the speaker’s post and some key portfolios in the new cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will be sworn in on Sunday. “TDP never negotiates when it comes for post, we only negotiate for funds for the state. We don’t ask for ministries. Our interest is the state’s interest,” Mr Lokesh insisted.
“Strong states make strong nations. We want to be part of a 5 trillion dollar economy dream. We believe that Andhra alone can be a 1 trillion economy. Look forward to working with NDA,” he added.
