CHENNAI: Social justice and caste have always played crucial roles in Tamil Nadu’s electoral politics. But, it’s after almost three decades that a reservation policy has taken the centre stage during an Assembly elections. The perceived attempts of the Centre to dilute State’s 69 per cent quota, and the absence of both M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa could have triggered this new thrust to reservation, say analysts.
The Vanniyar Sangam held massive protests in 1987 demanding quota for Vanniyars. After coming to power in 1989, DMK created a 20 per cent quota for Most Backward Communities by dividing the 50 per cent BC quota. Since then, six Assembly elections have been held between 1991 and 2016 reservation remained a non-electoral issue.
Largely during those years, despite several issues cropping up, voters kept alternating between Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, leaving no space for a third player. Both these leaders also actively supported the 69 per cent caste-based reservation – the highest followed anywhere in the country.
Even after the demise of those two leaders, both the Dravidian majors stuck to the reservation policy.
But, then came a fresh surprise from Centre in 2019 – the 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) of forward communities. It revitalised the reservation debate. DMK among other outfits opposed the EWS quota, saying it was introduced without any scientific data, and moved High Court against it.
AIADMK said the policy would not be implemented in the State. The issue got further politicised when in several recruitment exams, the cut-off for EWS quota was much less than other quotas. This, even as the Centre refused to provide quota for Backward Communities in medical admissions under All-India quota.
The issue didn’t stop there.
Next round began when the Centre agreed to provide Institute of Eminence (IoE) status to Anna University on the precondition that the Centre’s reservation policy of 49.5 per cent be implemented instead of the State’s 69 per cent. To save the State’s own reservation policy, the government withdrew its 2017 proposal to get IoE status for the prestigious university.
The Centre’s insistence that Anna University follow the Central government’s quota for the two Centrally-sponsored MTech courses, too, has stirred debates on whether the Centre is enforcing its reservation policy on Tamil Nadu. Now, with just a month before the elections are held, it remains to be seen how voters react to these developments.
EWS quota
The 10% quota for EWS of forward communities revitalised the reservation debate. DMK among other outfits opposed the quota, saying it was introduced without any scientific data