Shahi Imam rejects Congress's Muslim sub-quota of 4.5 percent, supports Samajwadi Party

Lucknow: The Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, on Saturday rejected the ruling party's Muslim sub-quota of 4.5 percent and supported Samajwadi Party for the upcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Sharing the dais with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav here on Saturday, he said Muslims should get reservation on the basis of population.

He criticised the UPA II Government for not implementing the recommendations of the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee and the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission.

Mulayam Singh had recently written a letter to Bukhari accusing the Congress of having failed the minorities. The move is seen as an attempt to garner the 18 percent Muslim vote base in UP.

He promised to grant Muslims reservation in education and employment. He wrote that if his party came to power he would implement reservation for Muslims on the lines of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. "I will try to give them reservation to the extent nobody has provided so far as soon as my party comes to power," he said.

BJP has opposed the 4.5 percent reservation for the minorities within the OBC quota by arguing that the move will not only divide the state on communal lines but also widen the divide among the OBCs.