A day after the High Court struck down the GO allowing 59.85% reservation for BCs, SCs, and STs in the local body elections, Deputy Chief Minister Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose on Tuesday said that the government would stick to the 50% cap on the quota as per the court directive.
In a GO issued in January, the State government fixed 59.85% as the share of reservation—34% for backward classes (BCs), 19.08% for SCs, and 6.77% for STs.
On Monday, the High Court struck down the GO, rejecting the government’s contention that the State was entitled to coss the 50% mark in reservation and that the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling did not constitute a comple bar to exceeding 50%.
“It is not the case that we can not move to the court to press our demand for the 59.85% reservation. As the time is short, we will proceed with the 50% quota, abiding by the Supreme Court guidelines,” Mr. Bose told the media here.
However, the Deputy Chief Minister was critical of the TDP’s statement that the YSRCP had not handled the issue well and should have moved the Supreme Court.
Dig at Naidu
“At least, we are moving forward to conduct the local body elections, but TDP president N. Chandrbabu Naidu did not even think of holding the elections in his five-year tenure. Instead of announcing the polls, it was Mr. Naidu who started the Special Officer concept for the local bodies,” he said.
Coming down heavily on the TDP, Mr. Bose said that the party was spreading rumour that B. Pratap Reddy who filed the writ petition in Supreme Court against the GO was a member of the YSRCP.
“In fact, Mr. Pratap Reddy is a close associate of the TDP. The Telugu Desam is using his ‘Reddy’ surname to defame the YSRCP. Playing politics with castes has been the hallmark of Mr. Naidu,” said Mr. Bose.
Patta distribution
He further alleged that the TDP was anti BCs and Dalits. “Why did the TDP move court when we wanted to give away 2,500 pattas to BCs in the CRDA region. This tells it all about their mindset. Now, the TDP is trying to project the YSRCP is working against the interest of BCs and Dalits,” added Mr. Bose.