Yogi Adityanath flays Salman Khurshid on sub-quota remarks

Gorakhpur, Feb 15 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogi Adityanath has slammed Law Minister Salman Khurshid for practising divisive politics through Muslim reservation amid crucial assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Adityanath said that Khurshid is 'gripped with the ghost' of former and foremost Pakistan prime minister Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was responsible for the partition of India.

Urging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to oust Khurshid from the Union Cabinet, Adityanath said: "The statement made by Salman Khurshid is beyond the limits of constitution. I believe the ghost of Jinnah has gripped the body of Salman Khurshid that is why he is doing such unconstitutional things while sitting at a constitutional post.

"Mistake is committed once and is not repeated again. This is not a mistake but a political gimmick and this gimmick is against the country, Indian constitution and constitutional bodies," Adityanath told reporter in Gorakhpur.

Adityanath further said that he is sure that people will sweep away the Congress in the ongoing assembly polls.

"It is a fact that Muslim does not vote for Congress and it is decided that they will not even do so. They have divided the country to get political advantage. Every citizen has come through the real face of the Congress that is why Congress is struggling for its existence. I think, that Congress will be swept away in these elections," he added.

Khurshid had during a recent poll-campaign in Uttar Pradesh promised that if the Congress Party was voted to power in the state, the sub-quota for Muslims would be increased to nine per cent within the 27 percent reservation meant for Other Backward Classes (OBC).

However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) slapped Khurshid with a notice, saying his remarks had violated the model code of conduct.

The Election Commission sought the 'immediate and decisive' intervention of President Pratibha Devisingh Patil after it charged Khurshid with 'improper and unlawful' defiance of its orders under which he was censured for promising sub-quota for minorities.

President Patil has sent Election Commission's complaint against Khurshid to the Prime Minister's Office for appropriate action. (ANI)