• Shabbir Ali says Congress government committed to enhancing BC quota, will decide future course after receiving full judgment copy

Hyderabad, October 9: Senior Congress leader and Government Advisor Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of colluding to obstruct the implementation of 42% reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in local body elections.

Responding to the Telangana High Court’s stay on the election notification over reservation issues, Shabbir said the BJP and BRS had been misleading the public despite having earlier supported the same measures. He pointed out that the Congress government had twice passed a Bill in the Assembly to increase BC reservations, and that it was the first Bill introduced after the new government came to power.

He clarified that the legislation was based on the report submitted by the BC Commission, which stated that BCs constitute nearly 56% of the state’s population. Therefore, he argued, the demand for enhancing reservation was supported by empirical data and backed by constitutional mechanisms.

Shabbir Ali, who impleaded in the case in favour of 42% BC quota, attended the hearing on the case in the High Court along with ministers. He said that although the Assembly had unanimously passed the new Act to replace the previous Panchayat Raj Act amendments, the Governor delayed forwarding it to the Centre. He alleged that the BJP was solely responsible for blocking its inclusion in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

He further said that it was the BRS that filed the petition in the court, which ultimately led to the stay on elections. “Both parties, BJP and BRS, acted together to deny BCs their due share in reservations,” he claimed. Shabbir maintained that the Congress had consistently supported 42% reservation for BCs from the beginning and had even publicly reiterated its stand before the recent judgment.

He said Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy would be briefed about the court proceedings and that the Congress government and party leadership would meet to decide the next steps once the full copy of the court judgment is received. (eom)