The Congress’ promise to grant reservation to Patidars in Gujarat is the “height of political opportunism” aimed at getting votes, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday, reported PTI. Prasad asked the Congress to reveal its quota road map for the Patidars.

Earlier this month, the Congress said it had a formula to allow reservations for the Patidar community over and above the 50% cap set by the Supreme Court. Last week, Patidar leader Hardik Patel announced his support to the Congress, and said the 50% cap set by the Supreme Court was “a suggestion” and can be breached if the state government allowed it.

The Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases – on December 9 and December 14. The results will be declared on December 18.

On Tuesday, Prasad said, “I want the Congress to reveal their road map. How will they breach the 50% cap set by the Supreme Court? If it is being done for getting votes, then it must stop.”

Referring to the various judgements passed by the Supreme Court, Prasad said, “There are seven different judgements about reservation, including the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgement, all of which clearly say we cannot cross the 50% cap,” the minister said.

On November 23, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Nitin Patel had criticised Hardik Patel for the reservation deal between his Patidar outfit and the Congress. Calling the Congress and Patidar leaders fools, he had said, “Though it is clear that reservation cannot go beyond 50% in any situation, Hardik is trying to misguide the Patidar community with the formula offered by the Congress.” He added that he thought “this formula of reservation is a big joke.”