THE Haryana state secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has strongly condemned union home minister Amit Shah's remarks made in Pali, Mahendergarh district on July 16. According to media reports, Shah alleged that the OBC quota of reservations would be diverted to Muslims in Haryana, similar to what was allegedly done in Karnataka by Congress. The CPI(M) described these remarks as highly inflammatory and aimed at inciting communal hatred, which they argue is an offence, especially coming from the home minister.

The CPI(M) stated, "The words uttered by Amit Shah show that the BJP has not learnt any lessons from the humiliating defeat in recent elections inflicted by people on BJP in Ayodhya and Badrinath for the divisive politics of communal polarisation for political gains." They emphasized that backward communities among Muslims and Meos in Haryana are already covered under the OBC category, yet the home minister is making misleading and mischievous statements in this regard.

The Party questioned why the BJP opposes a caste-based census if it is genuinely concerned about the plight of OBCs. They reminded the public that it was the BJP that triggered widespread violence following the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations by the VP Singh government, which provided 27 per cent reservation for OBCs, and subsequently withdrew support, leading to the government's fall.

Reiterating its stance, the CPI(M) criticised the BJP's pursuit of privatisation in education and other government sectors, which they claim has resulted in significant job losses and reduced the scope of reservations. The Party expressed concern that increasing the creamy layer cap and excluding salary and farm income components might deprive poorer sections among OBCs of reservation benefits. They emphasized that the creamy layer concept was introduced by the Supreme Court to ensure that truly deprived sections benefit from OBC reservations.

The CPI(M) has called on the people of Haryana to reject the communal agenda of the BJP and teach it a lesson in the upcoming assembly elections.