Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the Congress of being anti-backward classes and said if the party comes to power in Haryana, it will snatch reservation for them and give it to Muslims.
Addressing a 'Backward Classes Samman Sammelan' here, Shah referred to the Kaka Kalelkar Commission formed in the 1950s to provide reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and said the Congress did not implement its recommendations for years.
"In 1980, (the then prime minister) Indira Gandhi put the Mandal Commission in cold storage. In 1990, when it was accepted, Rajiv Gandhi gave a two-and-a-half-hour speech and opposed OBC reservation," the Union minister said.
"In Karnataka, the Congress snatched reservation for backward classes and gave it to Muslims. The same will happen here if they come (to power) here," Shah said.
"I want to assure you that we (BJP) will not allow Muslim reservation in Haryana. We will protect the rights of backward classes," he said.
He asserted that the BJP would form the government in Haryana with a full majority.
The Haryana Assembly elections are scheduled to be held later this year.
When Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, he had said that his government was of Dalits, the poor and backward classes, said Shah.
The BJP has given the country its first strong prime minister who comes from a backward class. Twenty-seven Union ministers are from backward classes including two from Haryana, the home minister said.
Shah said the Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini-led Haryana government recently took three important decisions for backward classes, including increasing the annual income limit for the creamy layer of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. Salary and agricultural income are excluded from the ambit.
Shah said earlier, in panchayats, there was 8 per cent reservation for backward classes in 'Group A'. Now, in addition to this, 5 per cent reservation will be provided in 'Group B'. In municipal bodies as well, 5 per cent reservation will be introduced for 'Group B' while the 8 per cent will remain intact, he said.
Shah said these pro-people decisions are in line with Prime Minister Modi's policies of public welfare.
According to an official statement, previously, there was a provision of 8 per cent reservation for the BC-A category in Panchayati Raj institutions. Now, an additional 5 per cent reservation will be provided for the BC-B category.
Similarly, there is an existing provision of 8 per cent reservation for the BC-A category in urban local bodies. Now, a 5 per cent reservation will be provided for the BC-B category.
In Haryana, BC-A and BC-B are sub-categories of backward classes.
Shah praised Saini, also an OBC, for his simplicity and said his doors are always open for people.
Saini, Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh, Krishan Pal Gurjar and Dharmendra Pradhan, and many Haryana ministers were also present on the occasion.
Targeting senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda over the Congress' 'Haryana Maange Hisab' campaign, Shah said, "Hooda sahab, you have to give an account of 10 years of misgovernance and depriving Haryana of development."
"I am the son of a Baniya, I have come with an account every single penny," he said.
"You give an account of corruption in jobs, spreading casteism, injustice with the downtrodden and nepotism.
"What account do you want? We will give you an account of things and the people of Haryana will seek an account from the Congress," he said.
The Congress on Monday launched the 'Haryana Maange Hisab' campaign, under which it will target the ruling BJP on several fronts, including unemployment and law and order, ahead of the assembly polls.
Shah said the Congress governments in Haryana and at the Centre gave only Rs 41,000 crore for development projects to the state between 2004 and 2014 while the BJP's double-engine government has given Rs 2.59 lakh crore.
The minister said that while there was "ease of corruption" during the Congress rule, there was "ease of business" under the BJP government.
Today, Shah said, Haryana is the largest exporter of basmati rice in the country, every 10th jawan in the Army comes from the state and maximum crops are purchased by the state government at minimum support price (MSP).
He called on people, including BJP workers, to seek an account of how much money was spent on development works during the 10-year tenure of the Congress.
He said BJP workers will visit all 6,225 panchayats to present an account of the development work carried out by the BJP.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Saini said the central government has not only worked to secure the rights of backward classes but has also protected them.
This was Shah's second visit to Haryana in less than a month. On June 29, he had addressed BJP leaders and workers during a meeting of the party's extended state executive in Panchkula.
