KTR advises govt. to focus on impressing Centre on 42% BC quota  

BRS working president and MLA K.T. Rama Rao has advised the Congress government to intensify its efforts to impress upon the Central government the need for enhancing reservations for Backward Class communities, rather than passing Bills in the Assembly.

“The issue (hiking quota) will not be settled here as the Centre has to give its clearance,” he said, participating in the debate in the Assembly on Sunday during the passage of Bills lifting the 50% cap on reservations in elections to local bodies.

He questioned the difference between the Bills sent to the President in the past and the ones being passed by the Assembly now. The Assembly would pass the Bill and send it to the Governor. “Why will the Governor sign the Bill when he has referred to the ordinance issued earlier to the President’s assent?” he asked, adding the government should stop hoodwinking the BCs in the name of reservations and take up concrete steps to overcome legal obstructions for implementing the proposed 42% reservations to Backward Classes.

The BRS working president refuted the claim of the government that the previous government passed Acts capping reservations at 50%. “The 50% cap on reservations is an order by the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court and was first put in place by the N. Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the united AP. Only a Constitutional amendment can help in implementing the enhanced reservations,” he said.

Mr. Rama Rao criticised the Congress government for changing its positions on the issue and said the government which harped on Constitutional amendment initially mentioned about ordinance, Bill, Government Order and subsequently, said the provision would be implemented after Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister.

He also took objection to the repeated mention of ‘ceiling’ on reservations, asserting that there was nothing called a ceiling in the Act. “It is a lie,” he said, adding that clauses in Article 243 of the Constitution formed the basis for the Panchayat Raj Act of the previous government. He ridiculed the claims of Ministers on allowing debates on any issue the Opposition sought and wondered how the government could make such claims when there was no clarity on the duration of the session. “The government is running away from debates on serious issues,” he alleged.