Bharatiya Janata Party's Tamil Nadu unit on Thursday said it opposed any move to provide job reservation for minorities in the state government.
State party president C P Radhakrishnan said the proposal was unconstitutional.
He said the father of Indian constitution late B R Ambedkar had opposed reservation based on religion.
Criticising Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi for his remarks that if the DMK-led alliance was voted to power in next year's assembly polls, minorities would be provided reservation, Radhakrishnan said it was with an eye on the minority vote bank.
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On Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's remarks that the government would examine the possibility of reservation for Muslims, he said the state government should not at any cost contemplate such a move.
He said reservation for minorities was betrayal of the interests of Dalits and backward classes, who had been suppressed for long, due to caste system in the Hindu religion.
Other religions had openly stated that they did not practice caste system and there was no need for reservation for minorities, he said.
Radhakrishnan said such reservation would only sow seeds of the country's partition on religious basis once again.
When pointed out that the demand came from Muslims due to their economic backwardness, he said in all religions, economic backwardness prevailed and when there was a move in some north Indian states to introduce economic criteria for reservation, DMK and Dravidar Kazhagam opposed it.
Ruling out any alliance with other parties for the next year's assembly polls, he said his party would contest all the 234 assembly seats.
"Though it is a challenge, we are making an all out effort to make an impact on the state's electoral scene," he said.
He said the party's main electioneering plank would be water shortage in the state and full utilisation of river water resources to meet the shortage.
Also see: More reports from Tamil Nadu
