Revanth Reddy Defends 4% Minority Quota, Promises Hate Speech Law

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday firmly defended the State’s four per cent reservation for minorities, stating that his government would move the Supreme Court whenever the quota is challenged.

Speaking at a consultative meeting of the Jamiat Ulama Telangana, the Chief Minister referred to earlier remarks by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the BJP would scrap minority reservations if voted to power in Telangana, and challenged the party to form the government in the State and act on those claims.

Reddy also cited recent comments by BJP Telangana president Nitin Nabin at a public meeting in Mahabubnagar, reiterating that the four per cent quota would not be diluted or withdrawn.

The Chief Minister said the four per cent reservation was restored in 2004 by a Congress government in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh and continues under the OBC framework for socially and educationally backward Muslim communities. He said the policy had helped minority students secure government employment.

Reddy said the State had completed a caste survey, which would strengthen the case for making the four per cent reservation permanent. He maintained that the government would defend the policy legally if it faces any challenge.

The Chief Minister also announced that the government would bring a law against hate speech in the forthcoming Budget session of the Assembly, with former Supreme Court judge Justice Sudarshan Reddy assisting in drafting the legislation.

Stressing communal harmony, Reddy said people from majority and minority communities must work together for national progress.