Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by the Andhra Pradesh government against a high court order that had struck down two government orders providing 34 per cent reservation for Backward Classes in local body elections. The ruling triggered sharp political exchanges, with senior YSRCP leaders saying it had exposed the N Chandrababu Naidu government’s failure to secure the promised quota.
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Chief Minister Naidu, however, accused the YSRCP of going to court against the move and said that although the reservation government order had been cancelled, the TDP would still ensure representation for BCs by giving them 34 per cent seats from the party’s side. The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee also criticised Naidu and asked him to press the Centre on issues concerning OBCs.
Senior YSRCP leaders Ch Venugopala Krishna and Dharmana Prasada Rao said Naidu had promised 34 per cent reservation in the election manifesto despite being fully aware of the legal ceiling on reservations, but failed to complete the statutory and constitutional process needed to protect the quota. In a party release, they said, “The Supreme Court verdict on BC reservations had exposed the Chandrababu Naidu government’s failure to provide 34 per cent reservation to Backward Classes in local body elections.” They said that on August 18, Naidu had told the Assembly that the cabinet had taken three key decisions for BCs, including extending 34 per cent reservation in rural local bodies, but the Supreme Court later ruled against the quota.
Krishna alleged that the TDP-led NDA government had deliberately wasted time instead of creating a legally sustainable framework for the reservations. Despite the TDP being a key NDA partner at the Centre, he said Naidu had not raised the issue strongly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “If special efforts could be made in Parliament to provide legal backing to Amaravati, why was the same commitment not shown for 34 percent BC reservation,” he asked. He also rejected the government’s proposal to compensate BCs through party-level seat allocation, saying political tickets and statutory reservations were fundamentally different. He demanded that the government complete the required legal process and hold local body elections with 34 per cent BC reservation as promised.
Rao said the TDP-led coalition government knew that aggregate reservations could not ordinarily cross the 50 per cent ceiling, yet issued orders that failed judicial scrutiny. Krishna and Rao said YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had shown political commitment to BC representation even when statutory reservation faced judicial limits. They said that during the YSRCP government between 2019 and 2024, BCs got four of 11 Rajya Sabha seats, 28 of 58 MLC posts, six of 13 Zilla Parishad chairperson posts, nine of 13 mayor posts and 44 of 84 municipal chairperson posts, among others. They said the YSRCP would continue its fight until BCs receive statutory reservation and fair political representation.
Echoing the YSRCP’s criticism, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee vice president Kolanukonda Sivaji said he did not know whether the Ganga-Cauvery river-linking project would ever become a reality, but said Naidu had an opportunity to do a great service to the Backward Classes now and should use it. He said, “The Prime Minister (Modi), who came to power with the support of the TDP-led alliance, has failed to honour the commitment made in the Parliament regarding the inclusion of an OBC column and code in the population census. BC communities across the country are expressing their anger and disappointment over this failure.” Sivaji said that since the TDP-led coalition’s support was instrumental in bringing Modi to power, Naidu should “pressurise” the Union government to include a separate OBC column in the population census as compensation for his “failure” to secure 34 per cent reservation for BCs in local body elections.
Sivaji also recalled that during the tenure of former chief minister YS Rajasekar Reddy in united Andhra Pradesh, he had “held discussions with Prime Minister (former) Manmohan Singh and conducted local body elections with 34 per cent reservations for BCs”. In contrast, he said, Naidu had failed to secure the same benefit for BC communities. “After claiming credit and politically marketing the promise of 34 per cent BC reservations, what answer will the TDP give to the BC community for its failure to deliver? We demand that Naidu apologise to the BCs and explain this betrayal,” he said. Sivaji also claimed that Naidu was aware that Tamil Nadu and Karnataka implement reservation policies of up to 69 per cent and 56 per cent respectively under their legal frameworks.
Responding to the criticism, Naidu accused the YSRCP of filing cases against the implementation of 34 per cent reservation for BCs in local body polls. “Though the Supreme Court has cancelled the (BC) reservations GO (govt order), we will do justice to BCs from the party (TDP) standpoint. Party-wise, we will give 34 percent seats to BCs,” he said. Naidu said the TDP “alone” had developed BCs socially and economically and that they continued to stand by the party. He alleged that the previous YSRCP government had failed to implement the 34 per cent reservation brought in for BCs by the TDP and had cut it to 24 per cent. “As soon as the coalition government came to power, we raised BC reservations to 34 percent,” he said, again accusing the YSRCP of filing cases against its implementation. He said the TDP would continue to support Backward Classes and ensure their representation through the party.
The court ruling has now intensified the political clash over BC reservation in Andhra Pradesh, with the YSRCP and Congress attacking the Naidu government over the failed quota and Naidu insisting that the TDP will still ensure representation for BCs through party nominations.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
