Congress Asks All Parties To File Affidavits In HC In Support Of 42% BC Quota GO

Hyderabad: The Congress on Monday urged all political parties to submit affidavits in the Telangana High Court supporting the state government’s decision to provide 42 per cent reservation to the Backward Classes communities in local bodies, saying it was time for them to prove their sincerity on social justice.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Vakiti Srihari, along with other Congress BC community leaders, said the government had taken every step to implement the enhanced quota and now expected all parties to help overcome legal hurdles to GO 9, which was issued to raise BC reservations in zilla parishads, mandal parishads and gram panchayats.

Prabhakar said the government had carried out a caste survey, set up a dedicated commission and sub-committee, and passed a resolution unanimously in the Assembly with support from all parties before sending it to the Governor and then to the President for approval. He said the Congress had also mobilised MPs in Delhi seeking early presidential assent.

Citing past Supreme Court observations in the ‘Indira Sawhney’ and ‘K. Krishna Murthy’ cases, he said reservation in local bodies was within the powers of the state. He noted that Tamil Nadu had implemented 69 per cent reservation by placing it under the Ninth Schedule and that the apex court too had accepted the measure recently that when bills remained pending for more than three months, it should be deemed as approved.

Prabhakar asserted that the 42 per cent BC quota was based on authentic data and would not harm any other community. “We respect the judiciary but no one should try to pull the rug from under our feet,” he said, urging parties, caste associations and social justice advocates to support the measure when High Court hearings against 42 per cent BC quota begin on October 8.

He said that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was personally leading the effort with the backing of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Prabhakar said he along with other BC ministers would meet heads of all political parties to urge them to file affidavits in High Court in support of 42 per cent BC quota.

Vakiti Srihari said BC reservations were a constitutional right arising from caste enumeration and that the Congress had no intention of depriving any other group. He warned that if the quota was blocked, BC youth would be pushed further back. He appealed to all parties to send their legal teams and file affidavits so that the 42 per cent quota could be implemented smoothly during the forthcoming local body elections.