Rajahmundry (Andhra Pradesh) [India], October 9 (ANI): YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders on Friday lashed out at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of betraying Backward Classes (BCs) by failing to secure 34 per cent reservation in local-body elections, alleging that the Supreme Court verdict had exposed the state government's failure to establish a legally sustainable framework for the quota.
Former ministers Chelluboyina Venugopala Krishna and Dharmana Prasada Rao said the Naidu government had promised 34 per cent reservation to the Backward Classes in its election manifesto despite being aware of the legal ceiling on reservations, but failed to complete the statutory and constitutional process required to protect the quota.
Venugopala Krishna alleged that the government had deliberately wasted time instead of taking steps to safeguard BC reservations. He questioned why Naidu, despite being a key partner in the NDA government at the Centre, had not strongly raised the issue 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% BC reservation?” he asked.
He said sending BC Ministers to Delhi to consult lawyers was insufficient and demanded that the state government exert political pressure on the Centre to secure constitutional protection for the quota.
Rejecting the proposal to compensate BCs through party-level seat allocation, Venugopala Krishna said political tickets and statutory reservations were fundamentally different. He demanded that the government complete the necessary legal process and conduct local-body elections with 34 per cent BC reservation as promised.
Dharmana Prasada Rao said the government was aware that aggregate reservations could not ordinarily exceed the 50 per cent ceiling, yet issued orders that failed judicial scrutiny. He demanded an unconditional apology to BCs and called for a comprehensive empirical survey through a legally constituted commission instead of ad hoc exercises or household data collection.
Both leaders said YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had demonstrated political commitment to BC representation despite judicial limitations on statutory reservations.
They cited representation under the previous YSRCP government, stating that BCs received four of 11 Rajya Sabha positions, 28 of 58 MLC positions, six of 13 Zilla Parishad chairperson posts, nine of 13 mayor posts, 44 of 84 municipal chairperson posts, 239 of 636 Mandal Parishad President posts and 227 of 639 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency positions.
The leaders said the coalition government should stop blaming YSRCP for the loss of opportunities for BCs and explain why it had failed to secure a legally sustainable 34 per cent quota.
YSRCP would continue its fight until BCs received statutory reservation and fair political representation, they said. (ANI)
Supreme Court verdict exposes Naidu’s failure to protect BC quota: YSRCP
