CHENNAI: Days after the Tamil Nadu passed a Bill providing 10.5 per cent internal reservation in the MBC category for the Vanniyar community, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan slammed the move, and charged that it was aimed at dividing non-Vanniyar communities in the category.
There has been a muted response to the Bill from most political parties in the State, including the DMK. However, the VCK, a DMK ally, is the main rival to the AIADMK’s ally, PMK, which claims to represent
the Vanniyar community and which sought the internal quota, in the State’s northern districts.
Thirumavalavan, in a statement on Tuesday, reaffirmed his support for reservation as a policy, terming it a part of social justice. However, he questioned the hurried passage of the Bill just an hour before poll dates were notified and charged the BJP, AIADMK and PMK of using the internal quota to divide MBC communities.
He pointed out that the Governor, appointed by the BJP-led Central government, had delayed approving the Bill providing quota for government school students in medical colleges but approved of the Vanniyar quota bill on the day it was passed.
The Bill 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 20pc government reservation for MBCs. It allocates 7 pc quota for 93 MBC and Denotified communities and 2.5 quota for 22 MBC castes.
Thirumavalavan asked why the government had divided the non-Vanniyar MBCs of MBC into two categories despite none of them demanding any such internal quota. By doing so, he charged, the unity and the bargaining power of MBCs has been reduced. Expressing hope that Vanniyars and other backward communities would understand the “conspiracy” behind the internal quota, the VCK chief said they 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. On Tuesday, he urged the PMK cadres and Vanniyars to ensure the victory of AIADMK-led alliance in the “121 assembly constituencies from Chennai to Cauvery delta districts where the community is the (electoral) deciding authority”.