The Congress government has the power under Article 243D to provide 42% quota for the Backward Classes in the local body polls and can issue a Government Order (GO) without putting the ball in the Centre’s court, claimed BJP Rajya Sabha MP R. Krishnaiah on Thursday.
Talking to the media at the State office, the BC leader welcomed the High Court ruling on holding local body polls within three months and pointed out that his party had already supported the move to enhance the BC quota.
Mr. Krishnaiah does not foresee any legal tangles on the way forward because the government has established a dedicated commission and conducted the BC census per the Supreme Court guidelines. The census had clearly indicated that the BC population is more than 42% and the government had enacted an Act in the Legislative assembly; hence, there should be no legal or constitutional issues, he maintained.
The MP also wanted the government to clear the pending fee reimbursement dues of up to ₹8,000 crore in phases as scores of students and managements were under duress.
CBI probe
In a separate press conference, former MLA N.V.S.S. Prabhakar had reiterated the party’s demand for a CBI probe into the Kaleshwaram project, illegal phone tapping and many other irregularities in the BRS regime. “Only the CBI can get to the bottom of these scams since the former CM and former Irrigation Minister have been pinning the blame on the engineers and others for the giant irrigation project fiasco,” he added.
Published – June 26, 2025 06:51 pm IST