New Delhi:
The Election Commission will meet today to discuss the reply filed by Law Minister Salman Khurshid for a show-cause notice issued to him over his recent speech. On Sunday, while campaigning for his wife in Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Khurshid had said that if it is elected, the Congress will set aside a nine per cent sub-quota for UP government jobs for minorities; this would be carved out of existing reservation for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in UP, he had said. The minister had also reportedly indicated that eight Muslim castes would benefit from this move.
In his reply, the Law Minister has reportedly defended his speech saying that a minority quota exists in the Congress manifesto released in 2009 for the Lok Sabha polls and that he has only quoted the manifesto.
The minister is also said to have told the poll panel that he only used the word 'minority' and did not specify any caste or community so the statement does not directly violate any provisions in the poll code. "The actual election process has not started in Uttar Pradesh and that there is no declared candidate or party candidate so there is no violation of the model code; it was only a general statement given at the rally," he has reportedly added in his reply.
The Election Commission (EC) had asked the Centre to wait to implement its sub-quota of 4.5% for minorities within the existing 27% quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and universities till the state elections are completed.
Late last month, just before elections were announced for five states including Uttar Pradesh, the Cabinet approved the carving out of this sub-quota. That sub-quota has been more than doubled in Mr Khurshid's promise, which he says is what the Congress manifesto promises too.
The government clearly wanted to appeal to voters, especially in UP, before the model code of conduct kicked in. But the Election Commission says that the quota policy would deprive other parties of a level-playing field as they contest state elections.
Welcoming the EC's directive, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar had said, "What Congress was doing was crass vote bank politics... it has been exposed by the Election Commission... it is trying to trigger fight between minorities and other OBCs."