Ponnam Prabhakar demands resignation of BJP MPs over 42 pc BC reservation

Telangana BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar urged BJP MPs to resign, demanding the Centre include 42 per cent BC quota in the Ninth Schedule. BJP’s N Ramchander Rao opposed the move, citing judicial review. Political debate continues over constitutional limits.

Hyderabad: Telangana Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Tuesday demanded the resignation of BJP MPs from Telangana to pressurise the Centre to include the state’s 42 per cent BC reservation laws in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

Stating that increasing the 42 per cent quota for BCs is possible, he urged the BJP MPs from the state to resign to mount pressure on the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

---

Talking to media persons, he came down heavily on state BJP president N Ramchander Rao for reportedly stating that including 42 per cent BC reservation in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution was not possible.

“Mr Ramchander Rao has shown his true colours once again by stating that including BC reservation in the Ninth Schedule is not possible,” Prabhakar said.

The minister asked how the laws passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly to increase total reservation beyond 50 per cent were included in the Ninth Schedule.

The Telangana Assembly, in March this year, passed two Bills for increasing BC reservation to 42 per cent in education, jobs and local bodies and sent the same to the Centre for Presidential assent.

Prabhakar demanded that the Centre immediately take a decision on increasing the BC quota.

He argued that the state has increased the BC reservation based on empirical data and caste census and forwarded the Bills after approval in the Cabinet, the Assembly and also to the Governor. “If injustice is done to BCs, we will not remain silent,” he warned.

Meanwhile, Ramchander Rao, in a post on social media platform X, said that the Congress government in the state lacks clarity on the promise of BC reservations. He said that on one hand, the Congress makes promises, while on the other, it does not implement its own decisions.

“This policy hurts the self-respect of BC communities. BJP alone is committed to the rights of BCs, taking practical decisions under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

Talking to media persons in Delhi on Monday, Ramchander Rao had criticised the Telangana government for not seeking legal opinion before sending BC reservation Bills to the Centre.

He stated that without judicial review, such matters cannot be included in the Ninth Schedule. He argued that the Supreme Court had made it clear in 1973 in the Kesavananda Bharati case and the I R Coelho case that any law included in the Ninth Schedule could still be subjected to judicial review.

The BJP leader stated that the matter relating to reservation in Tamil Nadu was still before the Supreme Court.

He demanded that Congress implement the 42 per cent BC reservation without linking it to the Ninth Schedule. He alleged that since the party was not sincere in conducting elections to local bodies, it was making demands for including it in the Ninth Schedule.