KCR’s tribal quota card to corner BJP is double-edged
Raising the hopes of the tribals and apparently, to steal a march over the Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao made two politically loaded promises on the occasion of the Telangana National Integration Day on September 17. They were: enhancement of reservations to tribals from the present 6% to 10% in education and employment and rolling out Girijana Bandhu, a new scheme to be modeled on the lines of the Dalit Bandhu under which Dalit youths get `10 lakh grant to set up their own businesses.
The proposal for increasing reservations to tribals has been hanging fire for a long time. In April 2017, the Telangana Assembly and Council had passed a bill and sent it for the President’s assent. But for the last five years, it has been gathering dust in the nation’s capital. The bill sought to hike the quota, despite the fact that in such a case, total reservations would exceed the 50% limit.
Currently, reservations in the state stand at 64%, including 4% for Muslims as ordered by the Supreme Court, and 10% for the economically weaker sections. The chief minister, in his inimitable style, declared his intention to issue a GO soon as his patience was wearing thin. “I don’t care what the Centre does. Let it hang itself using the GO as a rope,” he scoffed.
The moot question is, why did KCR rake up the issue at this juncture? The saffron party has been surging ahead, seeking to consolidate behind it the Hindu vote. A pitch for reservations to tribals could not only possibly push the BJP onto the backfoot but also divert the narrative from its Hindu-Muslim rhetoric. The Modi government, of course, cannot hike the quota no matter how much KCR insists it could be done if the Act is placed in the ninth schedule of the Constitution as was done in the case of Tamil Nadu.
The reason being, it will open a Pandora’s box with similar demands gaining steam in other states. In short, it is a clever political maneuver. Reservation is a sensitive matter and moves of this sort only end up disappointing the tribals who do not deserve to be played with. To his credit, KCR’s demand is not new, but if he is serious, he should not wash his hands off with a GO. He should make a strong case and pursue
it relentlessly.