The Bhartiya Janata Party ally Telugu Desam Party’s general secretary Nara Lokesh and the son of N Chandrababu Naidu has asserted that his party will continue with the 4% reservation granted to the Muslim community under the OBC list.
Earlier, the BJP which is backed by TDP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had attacked the governments in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for providing reservation on religious grounds.
During the election campaigns, several BJP leaders, including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, criticized the reservation for Muslims and called it unconstitutional. They also promised to return the quota to SC/STs and OBCs after their return to power as it was stolen from them.
Nara Lokesh said that the decision to give 4% reservation to Muslims was not to appease anyone or get political gains.
Clarifying his stance on reservation based on religious grounds, he said that a nation or a state cannot progress if a particular section of society lives in poverty.
Earlier, TDP party supremo Chandrababu Naidu had also assured that his party will continue with the Muslim quota reservation in Andhra Pradesh, despite disagreement with the BJP on providing reservations based on religion.
The party's focus will be on creating jobs and uplifting the marginalized in Andhra Pradesh, Nara Lokesh said.
TDP won 16 seats in Andhra Pradesh in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and played a key role in helping the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) emerge victorious.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party despite winning the largest number of seats (240) was still 32 short of the majority mark. It’s the first time since 2014 that the BJP need to rely on its allies -- mainly TDP and JD(U) -- to remain in power.
