Frustrated by the silence of the Centre over giving nod to its Bill increasing the reservation quota for the backward sections of Muslims and the Scheduled Tribes, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is planning to take his fight to the national level and State a sit in protest in New Delhi to press the issue.
What is more significant was his initiative to make a common cause with the Chief Ministers of other States who were also facing the hurdles in increasing the reservation quota for various sections of the people.
According to the high level sources in the State Government and the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), KCR has established contacts with the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Rajasthan and sought their support to the demand that the powers of increasing the quota should be with the States.
KCR was piqued at the obvious bias of the Centre on the powers of the state to increase the quotas. While Tamil Nadu has total reservation quota of 69 per cent for various sections, Telangana was not being allowed to increase it to more than 50 per cent.
KCR was also planning to talk to the Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Haryana and other states to demand that the power should be given to the State Governments to decide their own quotas. Sources said that he was also in talks with the leaders of various political parties including Sharad Pawar of Nationalist Congress Party, Biju Janata Dal of Odisha, JD (Secular) of Deve Gowda in Karnataka and Janata Dal (united) in Bihar.
Telangana legislature has already passed a bill increasing the quota for the backward sections of Muslims to 12 per cent from 4 per cent and for the scheduled tribes to 10 per cent taking the total quota in the State to 62 per cent. During the recent winter session of the State Assembly KCR assured the members that his Government will secure the nod of the Centre at any cost and if necessary wage a legal and political battle to achieve it.
Denying that the quota for Muslims was on religious basis, he said, “It is modeled on the act of Tamil Nadu”.
“If Tamil Nadu can be allowed to have 69 per cent, why the same was not being allowed to Telangana”, asked a senior Minister T Nageshwara Rao. He pointed out that several north-eastern States were also enjoying more than 50 per cent reservation but in case of other States the Supreme Court has put a bar of 50 per cent.
KCR not only wants to quota to be increased but also demanded that it should be included in the IXth schedule of the constitution so that it was not challenged by anybody. The present quota of 4 per cent for Muslims in Telangana was pending before the Supreme Court for almost a decade and a constitution bench was to hear the case.
States of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra were facing demands from Gujjar, Patel and Marhata communities for reservation and Karnataka was planning to increasing the total quota for the Scheduled Castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs to 70 per cent.