Congress "shuns" Khurshid on Muslim quota

New Delhi, Jan 13 (IBNS) Rapped by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Congress on Friday distanced itself from Union Law Minister's commitment of 9 percent Muslim quota in jobs in Uttar Pradesh under the backward class category if elected to power in the state.

Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said the comment was made by Khurshid in individual capacity and not by Congress party, as a controversy broke out over the remark by Khurshid since he made the commitment after the election dates were announced and model code of conduct was in place.

Meanwhile, according to an NDTV report, the Prime Minister has written to the Election Commission allaying fears that its power and constitutional status would be undermined by statements like those made by Khurshid.

Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said that ECI has written to the PM on the matter of Khurshid.

Slapped a notice by the ECI to explain his remark that if elected to power Congress would provide nine percent reservation for Muslims in jobs in Uttar Pradesh, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid earlier had said he was only uttering what was in the manifesto.

He said while opposition leaders like Mulayam Singh demanded 18 percent and even 28 percent he only said what they had come up after survey when he was at helm in UP and had followed at the centre.

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, political parties are in a race to outdo each other over wooing the minority and Congress courted a fresh controversy when Salman Khurshid promised nine percent sub-quota for the backward Muslims in the state jobs on Sunday last.

The ECI, which was moved by parties like the BJP over the issue, has issued a notice of Khurshid and his wife over the remark.

The statement was made in the constituency of Salman´s wife Louis Khurshid in Farrukhabad.

Before the announcement of poll dates in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had played its Muslim card as the union cabinet announced a 4.5 per cent sub-quota for the minorities under the 27 per cent quota reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has a big Muslim vote bank, went a step ahead to say: "The government is betraying the minorities. Minority reservation quota should be 18% instead of 4.5% that Congress tabled, this is too little."

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yetchury had demanded 15% of reservation for minorities that was referred by the Ranganath Mishra Committee.

With Muslims forming a major chunk of the vote bank (18.5 percent) in Uttar Pradesh, the political parties are in a battle to woo the community with promises and sops.

UP is going to a seven phase election in Feb-March this year.