Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Wednesday said that reservations based on faith were against the idea of the Constitution, arguing that Muslims cannot get quotas in Karnataka as the country was partitioned in 1947 on religious lines, reported The Indian Express.

Last month, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka had removed the 4% reservation for Muslims from the Other Backward Classes quota. The decision was taken at the government’s last Cabinet meeting before the Assembly elections on May 10.

The Basavaraj Bommai government stated that the reservation is not constitutionally tenable and divided the 4% quota equally among the two dominant communities of the state – Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats.

The Supreme Court is hearing a plea against the government order and has put a stay on it till May 9.

At a election rally in Mandya district on Wednesday, Adityanath said the Congress gives reservation based on religion.

“We have given reservations on the basis of castes but there has been a division of the country on the basis of religion in 1947 and, as a result, reservation cannot be provided based on religion,” Adityanath claimed. “We are not ready for an internal division. Only the vision of ‘One India and Excellent India’ will take the country forward.”

He also accused the Congress of dividing the country geographically by creating Pakistan in 1947, reported The Times of India. “In its 60 years of rule, Congress has worked towards breeding hatred among castes for political gains,” Adityanath added.

The chief minister also claimed that there has been no rioting or curfew in Uttar Pradesh due to the “double-engine government” that banned outfits like the Popular Front of India.

“Please think about it, the double-engine government bans the PFI and on the other side, the Congress promotes the PFI,” he added. “The Congress gives reservation based on religion. Reservation based on religion is against the constitution of India.”

Notwithstanding Adityanath’s claims that there has been no rioting in Uttar Pradesh since the BJP came to power, data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that the state recorded 35,040 cases of rioting from 2017 to 2021. However, the number of riots reduced by 41% from 2017 to 2021.

Adityanath took oath as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister for the first time on March 19, 2017.