Decoded: Will Congress give reservation to Muslims from the OBC quota?

New Delhi: What started with the brutal and boldest-ever attack by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Congress in the last 10 years has raised the political temperature in this “not so hot” elections at least till the first phase of polling.

The attack led to the first-ever notice served to a prime minister by the Election Commission of India on Thursday.

In a bid to attack the grand old party and its scion, Modi accused the Congress of planning to give away people's hard-earned money and valuables to "infiltrators" and "those who have more children".

Muslim infiltrators from Bangladesh and Myanmar (Rohingyas) have formed a large chunk of the vote bank for Congress and other opposition parties. 

Political pundits suggest that Modi deliberately detailed the vote bank of Congress built over the years by felicitating all the arrangements for them including Aadhar and Voter ID cards.

“There is a clear polarisation in favour of Congress owing to the alleged appeasement policies by the grand old party. They vote in large numbers against Modi. Modi’s speech was an answer to the polarisation by Congress, which began on the face when it talked about banning Bajrang Dal in its Karnataka elections manifesto,” said a political analyst.

“His job was done in one speech. Now, he calls them the vote bank of Congress,” the analyst added.

The Congress immediately went on the back foot and claimed that their manifesto does not say anything as claimed by Modi.

So the big question is – did Modi create something of his own? Or his claims are true?

It is difficult to understand if you look at the manifesto, the statement of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, in which he said Muslims have the first right to the country’s resources, and the X-ray comments (caste and financial survey) by Rahul Gandhi, separately.

While the Congress has kept its manifesto comparatively moderate by talking only about the welfare of Muslims, the party’s prime ministerial face Rahul Gandhi has been conveying his plans in bits and pieces to his ‘vote bank’, especially the Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims.

His comments about caste and financial surveys, which he calls X-ray, reveal what he wants to convey to his vote bank.

When Rahul Gandhi talks about the caste survey, he says 90% of the population will be given their rights according to their population. This includes 20% Muslim population.

It means he is directly conveying to the Muslims that the 90% reservation he may be planning to implement will consist of 20% for Muslims.

Many voters must not be worried about the way to do it. Despite being clueless about the feasibility of any poll promises, voters have the habit of falling prey to politicians’ promises.

The Congress has done it in Karnataka and Telangana to go against the spirit of the Constitution by giving reservation in the name of religion and there is no reason to believe why can it not attempt it when it comes to power at the centre.

If the Congress fails to do it because of Constitutional obligations, it may attempt via the OBC route as it has done in Karnataka. And this is what Modi is warning about.

Moreover, former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s comment confirms the party’s model to reward its voters.

Looking at the comment by Dr Singh in the context of the financial survey being propagated by Rahul Gandhi, it clearly gives the second assurance of financial upliftment to Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims.

Those poor infiltrators have no financial standing. They live in temporary houses built on encroached lands with the help of political parties and local administration. Any assurance for them against just a vote is nothing less than a million-dollar reward.

“For people who blame BJP and Modi of indulging in polarisation must remember the nefarious design of polarisation beginning from Karnataka elections. What Modi has done is just the expose of Congress and Rahul, and a counter-polarisation,” said the political analyst quoted above.