The AIADMK’s surprising stand on the EWS verdict

M.G. Ramachandran had to suffer a drubbing in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, months after he strongly advocated the concept of ‘creamy layer’ among the backward classes. MGR casting his vote on July 12, 1982.
| Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

Political parties in Tamil Nadu reacted largely on expected lines to the Supreme Court verdict, by a 3:2 majority, upholding the validity of the Constitution Amendment providing for a 10% quota to economically weaker sections (EWS) of the general category. The State has a long history of political struggle for reservation in education and employment for socially and educationally backward classes. The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) quickly expressed its disapproval of the verdict, even though a couple of political parties in the State supported the development.

The DMK was quick to seize the opportunity to mobilise political opinion against the verdict. Within hours of the judgment being delivered, party president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin termed it a “setback to our century-long crusade for social justice.” During an all-party meeting in the State Assembly on November 12, chaired by the Chief Minister, a resolution was adopted rejecting the 103rd Constitution Amendment. The parties have also decided to file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict of November 7.

At the meeting, Mr. Stalin said that if accepted, the Constitution Amendment would “obliterate the principle of social justice.” He was apprehensive that the phrase “socially and educationally backward” [in the Constitution] would be replaced everywhere with “economically [backward].”

A majority of the parties in the State, including the Communist Party of India, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Pattali Makkal Katchi, and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi were on the same page as the ruling party on the issue. However, the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supported the verdict. (The national leadership of the Congress has since started a “political review” of its position on the issue.) There was nothing surprising about the support of the three national parties, as this was also their stand in July 2019 when the then All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) regime held a meeting of various parties to discuss implementation of the quota law.

But what came as a surprise was the AIADMK’S stand. Five days after the court upheld the law, the party announced that it accepted the judgment. This is the same party which, while in power, was opposed to reservation based on economic criteria. It chose not to implement it despite the offer of the Medical Council of India (now called the National Medical Commission) in 2019 to increase the intake of medical students by 25% if the State came forward to implement the quota. The AIADMK and its ally, the BJP, boycotted the November 12 meeting.

On the eve of the meeting, the DMK declared that it was hopeful of securing a stay on the judgment. Its optimism stems from the struggle for reservation in the State. Corrective measures such as the first Constitution Amendment of 1951, adopted to provide reservation in education and employment for socially and educationally backward classes, and the State’s 69% reservation system for Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which got a constitutional safeguard in 1993-94, became possible because of the opposition of Tamil Nadu’s political class to what it viewed as threats to the cherished principles of the State’s quota scheme.

Seasoned politicians still debate how AIADMK founder, M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), who was Chief Minister (except for a brief interregnum) between 1977 and 1987, had to suffer a drubbing in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, months after he strongly advocated the concept of ‘creamy layer’ among the backward classes. In July 1979, MGR floated the idea of including economic criterion as the basis for determining backwardness for the provision of educational facilities. Though it is a moot point whether his party would have won otherwise, as it was on the weaker side arithmetically against the formidable combination of the DMK and the Congress, it is an indisputable fact that MGR not only withdrew his decision on the creamy layer, but also hiked the quantum of reservation from 31% to 50% after the polls.

Given this historical context, the AIADMK leadership seems to have taken a risk by supporting the EWS quota. It remains to be seen whether the party will stick to its position.



Source link

Leave a comment