Yogi Adityanath In Poll-bound Karnataka Slams Congress Over Reservation Based On Religion Referencing Partition

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has accused the Congress party of supporting groups like the Popular Front of India (PFI) and said Muslim reservation is not viable due to the division of India along religious lines in 1947.

He made his comments during a day-long election campaign visit to regions in Karnataka, in particular Mandya and Vijayapura district.

On the same day, Siddaramaiah, Congress leader and a former chief minister, tweeted about increasing the reservation limit from 50 per cent to 75 per cent, and extending reservation to all castes based on their population.

Adityanath said, "In the last six years, there has been no rioting and no curfew in UP. I want to congratulate the double-engine government for banning outfits like the PFI, and the spine of the outfit has been broken in Karnataka.

"Please think about it: the double-engine government bans the PFI, and on the other side, the Congress promotes the PFI. The Congress gives reservation based on religion. Reservation based on religion is against the Constitution of India."

He added, "We have given reservations on the basis of castes, but there has been a division of the country on the basis of religion in 1947 and, as a result, reservation cannot be provided based on religion. We are not ready for an internal division. Only the vision of One India and Excellent India will take the country forward."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims close ties between the Natha Panth association of Adityanath and the Adichunchungiri Mutt of the Vokkaligas, and even between Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka as, according to Adityanath, the Gorakhnath tradition exists in the South Indian state through Bhagwan Shree Manjunath and the traditions of the Adichunchungiri Mutt.