Advisor to the Telangana Government and senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remarks made during a public meeting in Sangareddy regarding Muslim reservations in the Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Shabbir Ali made these statements to the press after attending the Jana Jathara Sabha in Koratla on Wednesday. Shabbir Ali criticized PM Modi for calling the 4% Muslim reservation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana unconstitutional.
He accused PM Modi of inciting communal feelings and hatred among various communities by falsely alleging that the reservation was taken from backward classes and given to Muslims. Shabbir Ali emphasised that the 4% reservation given to 14 selective groups of Muslims in 2004-05 was based on social, educational, and economic backwardness, not on religious grounds. The Congress came to power in 2004 and implemented a 5% reservation for Muslims, creating a new category, 'E', among OBCs, without altering the existing reservations. However, because this exceeded the Supreme Court's ceiling of 50%, the High Court struck it down, leading to new legislation that reduced the quota to 4%.
