Headline Change: BJP concerned about population growth dynamics, discusses reservation policy

The BJP on Thursday expressed concern over the pace of increase in Muslim population in the country and wondered what impact it will have on reservations given to SCs, STs and OBCs, and alleged that the Congress is ‘determined’ to provide quota to the minority community if voted into power.

The ruling party’s response came after a recent working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) said that the share of Hindu population in India fell by 7.82 percent between 1950 and 2015, while that of the Muslims increased by 43.15 percent. percent, indicating that there is a favorable environment in the country to promote diversity.

The article titled ‘Share of Religious Minorities: A Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015)’ further states that the share of Jains in India’s population has fallen from 0.45 percent in 1950 to 0.36 percent in 2015.

The report comes ahead of the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

‘It’s a very well-known fact that has been in the public domain for about a decade. If you look at the 1951 census, Hindus had a population of 88 percent and Muslims 9.5 percent. In the 2011 census, the number of Hindus fell from 80 per cent to 79.8 per cent, while the percentage of Muslims increased by over 14.5 per cent,” BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told PTI when asked comment was requested.

“But the question arises that if the population increases at this rate and the Congress is determined to give reservations to the Muslims on the basis of population, they will reduce the share of the SCs, STs and the OBCs,” he said. added.

Trivedi said the Congress, if voted to power, will continue to “change” the share of reservations in the future with the increase in Muslim population, “which is more likely because they (Muslims) have the option of multiple marriages.” Close’ ‘.

The share of Muslims in the reservation will continue to increase also because of “conversion and infiltration because they have secular cover from them (Congress),” he added.

”So this is a bigger question and a bigger challenge that they (Congress) have to answer,” the BJP spokesperson said.

Senior BJP leader and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the EAC-PM’s report raises many questions as a particular community is “increasing its population in a manner that is altering and altering the demography of India.”

”This raises some questions that need to be asked and answered,” he said, adding: “How much of the growth of the Muslim community is driven by illegal immigration and conversion?” he asked.

”What is the impact of this significant increase in the (Muslim) population of the minority community on the rights and opportunities (available) to the other minority communities? There are Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians. Is there any displacement of these minority communities due to this (increase in Muslim population)?” Chandrasekhar asked.

He alleged that some political parties, including the Congress, are making “tremendous efforts to amend the Constitution and provide religion-based reservations.”

“So, what will be the consequence if the Muslim community grows its population so quickly, from 9 percent to 14.5 percent, and there are political forces that want to restrain them,” he told PTI.

“What will be the consequence for the OBC, SC and ST communities who have suffered for centuries in India and have been excluded from development,” he said, adding that these are the questions that need to be asked and answered because they will shaping the future of India.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)