Digvijay Singh backs Khurshid on sub-quota remarks

Varanasi, Feb 10 (ANI): Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Friday supported Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid over his promises to create a nine percent sub-quota for backward minorities.

Singh said it was every political party's right to make promises during elections.

"This is not a violation, but he has been asked not to say so. However, what he had said is part of our election manifesto and if he had said something quoting the manifesto, then it is the right of every political party to make promises during the elections," he told media here.

While campaigning for his wife Louise, a Congress candidate from Farrukhabad assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Khurshid had promised the electorate that the Congress would increase the sub-quota for minorities to nine per cent, out of the 27 per cent Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation.

According to the Election Commission, Khurshid hadviolated the Model Code of Conduct by making such a promise..

The poll panel said that being the law minister of the country, Khurshid should have been more careful and set an example for others.

Taking a dig at the BJP and other parties contesting the elections, Singh expressed confidence that the Congress would get a majority in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

"The people of Uttar Pradesh would not want an unstable government and would rather vote to bring a stable and permanent government. The Congress will get majority," he added.

The campaigning in 59 assembly constituencies spread over nine districts of eastern region of Uttar Pradesh from Basti, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh and Varanasi divisions came to an end on Friday.

Polling in these constituencies will be held on Saturday. A total of 1,099 candidates are in the fray for this phase.

Over 62 percent voting was registered in the first phase of assembly elections for the 55 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

The polls in Uttar Pradesh are being viewed as an opportunity for major parties to re-establish their foothold in the country's fifth largest and most populous state.

The poll results will broadly indicate trends for the 2014 general elections. (ANI)