Religion-based reservation is against nation's interest: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said attempts to provide reservation to minorities amounted to a betrayal of the nation and were an insult to framers of the Indian Constitution.

Addressing an election rally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he called for efforts to defeat any such move in order to protect the country's unity.

Hitting out at the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government for its move to increase reservation for minorities to 12 per cent, Modi said he was surprised how the power-hungry were pushing for religion-based quota for the sake of remaining power.

Pointing out that the issue of the religion-based reservation was discussed in the Constituent Assembly, the Prime Minister said the great personalities decided against it in the interest of the country's unity.

Modi wondered from where the reservation for minorities would come when the Supreme Court had already fixed the upper limit of total reservation at 50 per cent.

"They will take away the rights of Dalits, STs and OBCs from the back door. Will you allow this crime," he asked the participants in the rally held at L.B. Stadium.

Telangana Assembly had last year passed a resolution to increase reservation for minorities in jobs and education from 4 per cent to 12 per cent and the same was sent to the Central government.

The TRS had blamed Modi for the delay in implementing its poll promise made in 2014.

Modi also came down heavily on TRS, saying it destroyed Telangana the way Congress destroyed the nation.

Countering Congress President Rahul Gandhi's allegation that TRS was the 'B' team of BJP, Modi said TRS and Congress had common nature, character, thinking and policies, making them the natural allies.

The Prime Minister recalled that during the Karnataka Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi used to the dub JD (S) as 'B' team of BJP but after the elections, his party formed the government with JD(S) to keep the BJP out of power.

Modi claimed that TRS and Congress had already started planning to prevent the BJP from coming to power in Telangana.

He described dynasty politics as a threat to the democracy.

He pointed out that barring BJP, all major parties in the fray in Telangana elections were parties with dynasty politics and family rule. He said Congress, TRS, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) all were family-centric parties.