CHENNAI: The State government passing a Bill to provide 10.5 per cent internal reservation for Vanniyar community in the MBC category was aimed at dividing the non-Vanniyar communities in the category, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan has said.
While there has been a muted response from the State political parties over the quota Bill, the VCK, perceived as the main rival of PMK, has come out against the Bill. Thirumavalavan, in a statement on Tuesday, reaffirmed his support for reservation as a policy by saying that it is a part of social justice. However, he questioned the hurried passage of the Bill just an hour before the poll dates were notified.
Thirumavalavan also pointed out that Governor Banwarilal Purohit, appointed by the BJP-led Union government, delayed giving approval for the law providing quota for government school students in medical colleges, while he gave his assent for the Vanniyar quota Bill on the same day it was passed.
The Bill has created a category of MBC (V) for seven sub-castes that are grouped under a Vanniyakula Kshatriya and provided a quota of 10.5 per cent within the 20 per cent government reservation for MBCs. It allocates 7 per cent quota for 93 MBC and Denotified Communities and 2.5 per cent for 22 other MBC castes.
Raising a question as to why the government had divided the non-Vanniyar MBCs into two categories despite none of them demanding any such internal quota, Thiruvalavan said the move had reduced the bargaining power of the MBCs and affected their unity. “I hope the Vanniyars and the other backward communities understand the conspiracy behind the internal quota,” he said adding that the communities would teach the AIADMK’s alliance a fitting lesson. On the other hand, PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss, who earlier thanked the government for passing the Bill, said the quota would be a big success for the Vanniyar community.