Whereas the BJP and the Congress welcomed the Supreme Court docket judgment upholding the ten per cent reservation for economically weaker sections within the normal class — with each events claiming credit score for introducing the 103rd modification to the Structure that gives for the quota — regional events, particularly these with roots in social justice actions, have been divided.
The DMK in Tamil Nadu referred to as it “gross injustice” and “in opposition to the ideas of social justice” whereas the JD(U) and the BSP welcomed the decision. The RJD, a celebration that has opposed the EWS quota previously, used the chance to resume its name for a caste census, saying the “judgment opens the potential of growing the quota for backward castes proportionate to their share within the inhabitants”.
In a 3-2 cut up verdict on Monday, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court docket upheld the validity of the Structure’s 103rd Modification Act, 2019.
Terming the judgment a “victory” for Narendra Modi’s “mission” to supply social justice for the poor, BJP nationwide spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia mentioned, “Modiji has proved that the BJP’s purpose of Antyodaya may very well be performed with out snatching away the rights of any group. The aim of this transfer (the Constitutional modification) was to empower the poor, strengthen them and produce them out of poverty.”
BJP normal secretary (organisation) B L Santosh referred to as the decision “one other large credit score for PM Narendra Modi’s imaginative and prescient of Gareeb Kalyan” and a “large enhance within the path of social justice”.
The Congress, too, claimed credit score for the Constitutional modification that gives for the ten% quota. In an announcement welcoming the judgment, AICC normal secretary in-charge of communication Jairam Ramesh mentioned, “The Modification itself was the results of a course of initiated by the Manmohan Singh authorities in 2005-06 with the appointment of the Sinho Fee that submitted its report in July 2010. Thereafter, widespread consultations have been held and the Invoice was prepared by 2014. It took the Modi sarkar 5 years to get the Invoice enacted.” The celebration additionally reiterated its help for a caste primarily based census.
The RJD, too, referred to as for a caste census, with its MP Manoj Jha telling The Indian Specific, “This can be a cut up verdict. It opens many avenues and prospects of interpretation and intervention… The ceiling has gone now and so, it (reservation) ought to be proportionate to share in inhabitants. Governments are supposed to deepen and broaden social justice. This judgment has opened that chance.”
Supporting the judgment, senior JDU chief and Bihar Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary mentioned in Patna, “Bihar was one of many pioneering states to introduce EWS quota (in 1978). What the SC mentioned may be very a lot in consonance with CM Nitish Kumar’s insurance policies. We’re in favour of an financial criterion for reservation.”
The JD(U) joined arms with ally RJD on the difficulty of population-based reservation, with celebration chief KC Tyagi saying, “We don’t oppose the RJD proposal. We’ve already began caste census in Bihar and it should occur throughout the nation.”
Probably the most vociferous opposition to the decision, nevertheless, got here from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M Okay Stalin, who referred to as it “a setback to the century-old battle for social justice”.
Calling all political events supporting social justice to return collectively, Stalin mentioned, “Because the Union authorities first proposed the quota in 2019, we’ve been battling it in court docket. Immediately’s order has been a major setback. We are going to seek the advice of with authorized specialists and perform our efforts to defend India’s social justice programs.”
The CPI(M), a celebration that had supported the modification in Parliament, although it had raised a number of questions then, on Monday demanded that the Rs 8 lakh annual earnings standards set by the federal government for the EWS quota be revised and lowered in order that solely the needy get the profit.
In UP, the BSP, too claimed credit score for the Constitutional modification, with celebration spokesperson Dharamveer Chaudhary saying, “This (the quota) has been a longstanding demand of the celebration. Behenji (Mayawati) was the primary to jot down a letter to the federal government demanding such a quota, following which the constitutional modification was introduced in. SCs, STs and OBCs have already got a quota, so it’s good that the poor among the many normal class can even get the advantage of reservations.”
The celebration had supported the laws in 2019, although celebration chief Mayawati referred to as it an “election stunt”.
The BJD, too, welcomed the decision. “The celebration had supported the laws in Parliament. The Supreme Court docket has upheld it now. We welcome it,” BJD MP Pinaki Mishra mentioned.
TMC MP Sougat Roy referred to as the decision “good for democracy”. “Because of this (of the decision), the financially weaker among the many upper-castes will profit. The decision will go a good distance in bringing financial equality to the society,” he mentioned.
There was help for the decision from a few of the regional events within the South.
“We supported the Invoice in Parliament… It’s obligatory for the upliftment of the poor among the many ahead courses. We’re already implementing it in training,’’ TRS politburo member B Vinod Kumar mentioned.
YSRCP chief and Social Welfare Minister in Andhra Pradesh M Nagarjuna mentioned the state authorities had began implementing EWS reservation in instructional establishments quickly after forming the federal government in June 2019.
With Liz Mathew, Manoj C G in New Delhi, Arun Janardhanan in Chennai, Santosh Singh in Patna, Sreenivas Janyala in Hyderabad