Speaking at a public rally in Raghunathpur, Siwan, on Saturday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma opposed the notion of granting reservations to Muslims. He criticized RJD chief Lalu Yadav for advocating “complete reservation for Muslims” and suggested that Yadav should move to Pakistan if he wants to advocate for reservations based on religion. Sarma emphasized that reservations will not be granted on religious grounds.
“Few days back I saw the statement of Lalu Yadav, where he said that ‘Muslims should get reservations’. Do Hindus don’t deserve to get reservations? Babasaheb Ambedkar gave us the Constitution. In the Constitution, it is mentioned that SC, ST, and OBC should get reservations. There will be no reservations on the basis of religion. I want to say this, Lalu Yadav, if you want to give reservations to Muslims, then I will buy you the tickets to Pakistan, go to Pakistan and then give reservations there. It will never happen in India. There is no law on this. Yeh Sapna bhi aap mat dekho (don’t dream of this),” Assam CM said.
Drawing from instances in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the Assam CM claimed that such initiatives were detrimental to other backward classes.
“Karnataka’s decision to grant reservations to Muslims was done after robbing the reservations of Backward classes,” he said.
The Assam CM emphasized that for the Bharatiya Janata Party to fully integrate the entire Jammu and Kashmir into India, they would require 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
“One part of Kashmir is in Pakistan. Give 400 seats to Modi ji and we will get Kashmir from Pakistan. We closed 700 madrassas in Assam and no one raised their voice against it. Why? Because this is a new India…Aaj mullah banane ka dukaan khulne nahi dunga. Doctor , engineer, banane ka kaam karunga…We need 400 seats so that we can bring the Uniform Civil Code, construct the Krishna Janambhoomi temple, construct the Gyanvapi temple and stop reservation to Muslims. That’s why we need 400 seats,” he said.
On May 7, former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav voiced his support for the reservation for Muslims, asserting that they should receive this allocation. Speaking to reporters, the former CM stated, “Muslims should get reservations (reservation toh milna chahiye Musalmano ko, pura’…).”
The 40 seats in Bihar are undergoing polling across all seven phases. In the 2019 elections, the BJP-led NDA secured a landslide victory in the state, clinching 39 out of 40 seats, while the Congress managed to win just one seat. Despite being a dominant force in Bihar, the RJD failed to secure any seats.
The Mahagathbandhan, the opposition coalition in Bihar comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties, recently announced that the RJD, its largest constituent, will contest 26 out of the state’s 40 Lok Sabha seats. As part of the NDA, the BJP and JD(U) will contest on 17 and 16 seats, respectively.
Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will be contesting in five seats, while Jitan Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha will each contest one seat.
The polling in Siwan is scheduled for the sixth phase of the elections on May 25. Vote counting will take place on June 4.