| Yadav said the move to reserve jobs for Muslims over and above the quota for backward and Other Backward Classes (OBC) would dilute the scope of the reservation. Also, job quota on the basis of religion was against the tenet of the Constitution, the Dal leader added. |
| "Even BP Mandal, while including Dalit Muslims in the list of OBCs said if reservation was to be offered on the religious ground then the affluent section would take away the cream of jobs," he said. |
| Remarking that the list of OBCs included several sections belonging to backward Muslims, he said, "If anybody is left out, the backward classes commission is competent to include them". |
| "By offering separate quota, the Andhra government is refusing them benefits of reservations under the Mandal Commission. If only religion is used, only the affluent among Muslims will benefit," he said. |
| The Andhra government's order was an eyewash, he said. It was not only unconstitutional, but violated a Supreme Court order as well, he added. According to the apex court order, reservations cannot cross 50 per cent of total jobs available. |
| "The only way to carry out the order without amendments to the Constitution is to reduce reservation for either the SC/STs or OBCs, which is also reprehensible," he said. |
| "With so many impediments to carrying out this order, it is clear that the move is aimed at narrow political benefits and does not stem from genuine concern for Muslims," the Dal leader said. |
| It was the repeated entreaties of several backward Muslims that had forced him to articulate his view, he added. "Otherwise, religious matters are quite sensitive," he said. |
| It is also significant that Yadav, keen to break Lalu Prasad's hold on the OBC Yadav's in Bihar has chosen to highlight this issue. By talking of a possible dilution of OBC reservation, if this comes through, the first shot has been fired in the battle for Bihar. |
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