BJP march to Telangana assembly against Muslim quota foiled

Hyderabad, March 24 (IANS) Police arrested BJP leaders to foil their march to Telangana assembly on Friday to protest the state government's move for hiking the quota for Muslims in jobs and education.

Tension prevailed near the assembly as police stopped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and activists and arrested them for violating prohibitory orders in the high-security area.

BJP floor leader in assembly Kishan Reddy, state unit President K. Laxman and other party legislators were among those detained.

Raising slogans against the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government, the protesters tried to break the security cordon on the roads leading to the assembly building.

Groups of protesters tried to reach the assembly from different directions but were stopped by police. As the agitators squatted on the roads, police personnel bodily lifted them into waiting police vehicles and shifted them to police stations.

Earlier, all five BJP members in the assembly were suspended from the House for two days for disrupting the proceedings on the issue of the Muslim quota.

Wearing black scarves and raising slogans against the government, the BJP members demanded that the proposal to increase the quota for Muslims be dropped.

The TRS government has announced that it will move a bill in the assembly during the ongoing budget session to increase the quota for Muslims in jobs and education from current four percent to 12 percent.

Kishan Reddy said the government's move was "unconstitutional" as there was no provision for providing reservation on the basis of religion and his party would intensify its agitation on the issue.