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Hyderabad, Oct 17 (IANS) Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Friday asked state BJP leaders to ensure an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Draupadi Murmu for approval of two bills pending with the Center to increase reservation for backward classes in education, employment and local bodies to 42 per cent.
He met Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar along with BJP state president N. Urged Ramachander Rao to take the lead and secure appointments with Prime Minister Modi and President Murmu.
Addressing a press conference in Khammam, the Deputy Chief Minister said that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and all political parties in the state are ready to go to Delhi if BJP leaders get appointments.
He accused the BJP government at the Center of stopping it from giving 42 percent reservation to the Backward Classes (BCs). He wanted to know why BJP was blocking the approval of BC Quota Bills in Parliament.
Stating that the Congress government in the state is committed to providing 42 per cent reservation to BCs, he said the government conducted a survey and on the basis of that, two bills were introduced and passed in the Assembly. The bills were sent to the Governor for assent and he sent them to the Center for the assent of the President.
He reminded that the Government had repeatedly requested in writing to allow an all-party delegation to meet the President and the Prime Minister on this issue, but there was no response from the Centre.
Vikramarka noted that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had led a protest in New Delhi to demand approval of the BC reservation bills.
State Congress Mahesh Kumar Gaur invited all political parties to hold a dharna in Delhi, but BJP did not support.
He said since the previous BRS government had brought a law in 2018 imposing a 50 per cent cap on overall reservation in local bodies, the Congress government passed another bill in the Assembly and sent it to the Governor for approval.
On the Supreme Court refusing to interfere with the Telangana High Court order that had stayed the government order increasing reservation for BCs in local bodies to 42 per cent, he said the government will study the judgment after receiving a copy and discuss it with legal experts to decide its next course of action.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta refused to stay the interim order of the High Court, observing that it could not adopt an approach inconsistent with the judgments of Constitution benches which have placed a cap of 50 per cent on the total reservation in local body elections. However, it added that the local body elections can go ahead without the proposed increase in the BC quota.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that the decision will be taken after discussion in the state cabinet meeting to be held on October 23.
–IANS
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