The Telangana assembly on Sunday has passed a bill to hike reservation in educational institutions and jobs for Muslims and Scheduled Tribes.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had moved the Backward Class, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Reservation Bill, 2017 at a special session of the State legislative assembly that proposed to increase reservation quota for Muslims from 4 % to 12 % and that of Scheduled Tribes (ST) from 6 % to 10 %.
However, BJP demanded two seperate bills for Muslims and STs and said they support the quota hike for STs but oppose the hike in reservations for Muslims as it amounts to communal politics.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu has been quoted as saying that the move will pave the way for a mini Pakistan in India.
Assembly Speaker Madhusudhana Chary suspended five members of the BJP as they tried to stall the proceedings to protest the bill.
Meanwhile, the chief minister said that the reservations were not based on religion or caste but being provided on the basis of socio-economic backwardness.
