Ponnam Prabhakar | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
The government waits with bated breath as the Supreme Court takes up the petition challenging 42% reservations to Backward Classes in the local body polls on Monday (October 6), even as Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Vakiti Srihari rushed to New Delhi to engage senior lawyers.
TPCC president Mahesh Goud also joined them as the government is determined to see that the Supreme Court takes a lenient view of the government’s decision, despite it breaking the 50% ceiling on reservations set by the earlier judgments of the Supreme Court. The government is confident that it has overcome all the legal issues likely to come up, passing the bill in the Assembly based on a caste survey and also issuing a GO based on the recommendations of a Dedicated Commission that looked into the BC population.
Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar appealed to those who filed petitions in the Supreme Court against the Government Order (GO) to withdraw it, stating that the proposed hike in BC reservations would not harm the existing reservations for the open category (OC) members under EWS.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, he said that the government was taking all measures to ensure that strong arguments are made on behalf of the government by taking advice and suggestions from legal experts on the issues to be dealt with in court regarding reservations.
Mr. Prabhakar added, “There is an attempt to block the 42% reservation for BCs taken by the State government. Even though some people are opposing the enhanced BC reservations, personally, in the name of Reddy Jagruthi, it doesn’t mean that everyone is connected. All elders should support the weaker sections, especially in situations affecting rural areas. Efforts are being made to ensure that BCs also have rights similar to those of SCs and STs as per the Constitution.” Mr. Prabhakar also reminded that the Bill had been passed with the consensus and support of all political parties.
Published – October 05, 2025 08:27 PM is
