CM to meet President Murmu seeking assent to quota Bills

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has decided to seek the appointment of President Droupadi Murmu to impress upon her the need to give assent to the Bills pertaining to the 42% quota for BCs in local body polls.

“The Chief Minister will seek the appointment of the President. Opposition leader in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and his counterpart in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge as well as more than 100 MPs forming part of the INDI alliance will accompany the Chief Minister as and when an appointment is fixed,” Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar told reporters after the Cabinet meeting here on Monday night.

Mr. Prabhakar exhorted BC leaders of all political parties as well as those leading the organisations working for their interests to join the State delegation in New Delhi ‘at this crucial juncture where the State has taken a proactive decision to give BCs their due’. He invited BJP MPs, including Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Arvind Dharmapuri and R. Krishnaiah hailing from the BC communities, to join hands in convincing the Centre to pass the Bills in the interests of the BC communities.

He said that there were judgments in the past like Indira Sawhney case where hike in reservations was allowed if there was empirical data in support of the claims. He dismissed the claims of BJP leaders like its State president N. Ramachandra Rao and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy against the enhancement of reservations to backward classes. “What is the BJP’s stand on BC reservations? The party which did not accommodate a BC leader as floor leader in the assembly is claiming that a BC leader will be made the Chief Minister as and when it comes to power,” he wondered accusing the saffron party of indulging in diversion politics.

He recalled the timeline for the passage of the two bills enhancing the quota of BCs and said the government had adopted a transparent process in the entire exercise. Governor Jishnu Dev Varma too vetted the two Bills and obtained legal opinion on them before forwarding them for the President’s assent. He advised the political parties, especially the BJP, not to create obstacles in the implementation of the Bills as this was the first initiative taken by any government in the interest of BCs since Independence. “The decision to enhance reservation for backward classes is not against any political party. All the parties should join hands in mounting pressure on the Centre,” he said.

Replying to queries on whether protests would follow after August 7, he said the government would decide about the future course based on the response from the President and the developments thereafter.