'Poora Muslim Quota’: Lalu Yadav’s Remark Triggers Row

New Delhi: RJD President Lalu Prasad on Tuesday voiced his support for extending reservation benefits to Muslims, accusing the ruling BJP of aiming to abolish reservations by scrapping the Constitution.  "Reservation toh milna chahiye Musalmano ko, poora," he said. The former Bihar chief minister's remark came a day after BJP leader Amit Shah alleged that the Congress gave reservation to Muslims by reducing the quota for SCs, STs and OBCs in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

"The BJP is against the provision of reservations made in the Constitution. Hence, it wants to do away with both", Prasad told reporters at the legislative council premises.

The ailing septuagenarian, who nowadays prefers to stay indoors, was attending a swearing-in ceremony where his wife Rabri Devi took oath as an MLC.

Others who took oath included Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Prasad's arch rival who heads the JD(U).

Altogether 11 people were elected unopposed to the Upper House of legislature in Bihar in the biennial polls held earlier this year.

On BJP's charge that if voted to power, the Congress, RJD and other allies would "steal" reservations meant for OBCs and divert these to Muslims, Prasad said, "but should not Muslims get the benefit of reservations? (Aarakshan to milna hi chahiye Musalmanon ko)".

He also said the BJP was indulging in scaremongering (bhadka rahe hain) by raising the bogey of "jungle raj" at election rallies.

He also mocked the "abki baar 400 paar" claim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying "woh khud hi paar ho gaye hain (he is on his way out). The poll outcome will be in our favour". 

PM reacts to Lalu's ‘poora quota’ 

While addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's dhar on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at Prasad. “Congress is silent but today one of its allies confirmed the intentions of the INDI alliance. Their leader, who is in jail in connection with the fodder scam and has been punished by the court...He has just come out on bail...He said that Muslims should get reservation and not just reservation, he says that Muslims should get ‘complete’ reservation. What does this mean?."

The PM further vowed that as long he was alive, he wouldn't allow anyone to "erase India's identity" in the name of what he called "pseudo-secularism".

‘Congress will snatch the share of other communities’: BJP reacts to Lalu’s remark

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said PM Modi's apprehension about the reservation turned out to be true.

"The apprehensions expressed by BJP and PM Modi are now proving to be completely true. The genie of Muslim reservation has come out of the lamp of the INDI alliance and is visible in the sky from the South to the plains of Ganga. The thing worth noticing in the statement given by Lalu Prasad Yadav is that he said 'yes Muslims should get reservation, poora ka poora'. It has become clear that they want to give reservation to the Muslim community by snatching the share of SC, ST and OBC communities," he added.

With inputs from PTI