New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Slamming the Karnataka government for increasing reservation for minorities under various housing schemes from 10 to 15%, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Friday called the Congress a modern representation of the Muslim League and accused it of behaving like its leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah who fought for the division of India along communal lines.

'The Congress Party serves as the modern representation of the Muslim League. It behaves like Jinnah, who divided India along communal lines... They have stated that Muslims have first rights to the country's resources,' Poonawalla told ANI.

'They have taken away SC, ST, and OBC reservations and allocated them to the Muslim community on religious grounds, which contradicts Ambedkar and the constitution. They have granted reservations to Muslims in civil contracts as well, which goes against the constitutional spirit,' he added.

He alleged that the Congress is doing this to rub salt into the wounds of the Hindu community.

'For them, Hindus don't matter. They want to play only divide and rule, and this kind of thing is against the constitution. Yet, the Congress party does it again and again to divide Hindus on caste lines. They commit the fake caste survey, which they have to take back, where the muslim population is shown more, and now they are giving the extra quota to muslims on a religious basis only because of their vote bank politics,' he said.

Poonawalla's remarks come amid growing criticism from BJP leaders over the Karnataka Cabinet's approval on Thursday to raise the reservation quota for minority communities from 10 to 15 per cent under various housing schemes. The decision has triggered a political uproar, with the BJP arguing that religion-based reservation violates constitutional principles.

Earlier, Karnataka Minister HK Patil stated that this move does not require any new rules to be drafted. 'The reservation for all minority communities will be increased. There are Christians, Jains, Buddhists,' the Minister said.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Sambit Patra said the Constitution for the Congress party and the Gandhi family are secondary to appeasement.

'The Karnataka Cabinet passing the Muslim reservation in housing schemes yesterday is a perfect example of how the people who keep the Constitution in their pockets are tearing the Constitution to pieces... For the Congress Party and the Gandhi family, the Constitution is secondary to religious appeasement', Sambit Patra told reporters on Friday. (ANI)