Amidst the ongoing 2024 general elections, a video allegedly showing Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah saying “If the Bharatiya Janata Party forms the government, we will end the unconstitutional reservation for SC, ST, and OBC,” is circulating on social media platforms (here, here, and here). Let’s verify the authenticity of this viral video through this article.
Claim: Video showing Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah saying “If the Bharatiya Janata Party forms the government, we will end the unconstitutional reservation for SC, ST, and OBC”.
Fact: This viral video is edited. This viral video shows the visuals of Amit shah delivering a speech during a BJP meeting held in Chevella, Telangana on 23 April 2023. In his speech, Amit Shah stated, “If the Bharatiya Janata Party government is formed, then we will abolish the unconstitutional Muslim reservation. This right belongs to the SC-ST and OBC of Telangana, they will get that right, and we will end the Muslim reservation.” Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon careful observation of the viral video, we noticed the logo ‘V6 NEWS’. V6 News is a Telugu news channel based in Hyderabad, Telangana. Taking this as a cue to gather more information about the viral video, we conducted a relevant keyword search on YouTube. This search led us to a longer version of the same video published by the ‘V6 News Telugu’ official YouTube channel on 23 April 2023, titled “Union Minister Amit Shah Comments on Muslim Reservations | V6 Weekend Teenmaar”. According to this video report, Amit Shah addressed a public meeting in Chevella, Telangana, on 23 April 2023.
At around the 2:39 timestamp, Amit Shah can be heard saying, “If the Bharatiya Janata Party government is formed, then we will abolish the unconstitutional Muslim reservation. This right belongs to the SC-ST and OBC of Telangana, they will get that right, and we will end the Muslim reservation.” From this, it is clear that Amit Shah’s speech has been clipped and edited in different parts and is being shared with false claims. Originally, Amit Shah said they would revoke the Muslim reservations that exist in Telangana. Additional news reports regarding Amit Shah’s speech in Chevella, Telangana, on 23 April 2023 can be viewed here, here, and here. The speech was also live streamed on Amit Shah’s official YouTube channel.
In Telangana, the Muslim community has been receiving 4% reservations in education and employment under the Other Backward Classes category. In 2007, when the undivided Andhra Pradesh was in existence, 4% reservations were introduced for Muslim minorities. However, this quota is not implemented by reducing the existing quota of the OBCs; rather, it is allocated under a separate category of OBCs known as BC-E. Under the Telangana government’s Backward Classes Welfare scheme, Group E is defined as “Socially and Educationally Backward Classes among Muslims.
According to several media reports (here, and here), the Union Home Ministry filed a complaint with the Delhi police on 28 April 2024, seeking action against this edited video of Amit Shah.
To sum up, an edited video is being shared, claiming that Amit Shah said the BJP would scrap SC, ST, and OBC reservations.
