Tamil Nadu election 2026 | Reserved constituencies: procedural success, and yet a political struggle

Reservation, as envisaged by the framers of the Constitution, was primarily intended as an affirmative action measure to ensure political representation for historically marginalised groups — specifically the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST).

When the Constitution introduced reservation via Article 330 and Article 332, the goal was not just charity, but to ensure that those who had been excluded from the social fabric for centuries had a guaranteed seat at the table where laws were made.