New Delhi: JD(U) on Friday slammed Law Minister
Salman Khurshid for his remarks against the controversy
surrounding his statement on granting 9 per cent quota for
minorities in Uttar Pradesh and accused Congress of raising
non-issues in the election campaign.
Accusing the Congress of becoming "restless" in the run
up to the Uttar Pradesh polls, party chief Sharad Yadav also
targeted Rahul Gandhi over the issue of delay in passing the
new Land Acquisition Act and his recent move to woo weavers in
the state.
"He (Khurshid) is speaking against the Constitution and
the law. We condemn the kind of language that he (Khurshid)
has used against the Election Commission. No minister has far
tried to tarnish EC's image like this. He could have expressed
his views in his reply to the EC notice. We strongly condemn
the dismissive attitude he has shown (towards the poll body),"
Yadav told reporters here.
Khurshid, who has courted controversy for his statement
on granting 9 per cent quota for minorities, today said he had
no regrets as he had not done anything unlawful.
"No. Why should I regret? You regret when you do
something unlawful," he told reporters while emerging from a
meeting of the Group of Ministers on Bhopal gas tragedy.
Khurshid had made the promise of nine per cent sub-quota
for Muslims within the existing 27 per cent OBC quota while
canvassing for his wife Louise in UP's Farrukhabad
constituency.
He was slapped with a notice on Tuesday by the Election
Commission which held that prima facie his promise on
sub-quota for backward muslims within existing 27 per cent OBC
quota was "serious violation" of the model code of conduct.
The Minister replied to the notice yesterday in which he
defended his statement by citing the 2009 Congress poll
manifesto in which the party had promised to provide for a
sub-quota for minorities.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 13, 2012, 23:44