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Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday objected to the President holding assent on Telangana's reservation bill, which aims to give 42 per cent reservations to Backwards Classes (BC) in local body elections as well as in the education and employment sectors
Arguing that in Bihar, a similar bill was given immediate consent, Jairam Ramesh accused the BJP of "creating hurdles" and questioned its commitment to social justice. Speaking about a similar reservation bill passed in the Bihar Assembly, the Congress leader pointed out the time it took to become a law. "On November 9, 2023, the Bihar Assembly passed the Bill increasing reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs, and EBCs to 65%. The Legislative Council did so on Nov 10, 2023. After the Governor gave his assent, the Bill became law formally on November 21, 2023," Congress MP said in a post on X. He then laid out the timeline of Telangana's reservation bill, emphasising that it has not received President Droupadi Murmu's assent for over four months. "The Telangana Assembly passed a Bill increasing reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and backwards classes (BCs) to 67% (of which 42% is reservation for BCs) on March 17, 2025. The Legislative Council did so a day later. On March 30, 2025, the Governor sent the Bill to the President of India for assent. Over four months have passed, and that assent is still awaited," he said. https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1954389782034800808 Congress MP alleged that the BJP couldn't hold the bill in Bihar because of their "social realities", and accused the BJP of "creating hurdles" in Telangana. "The Bihar Act came into being when Nitish Kumar had not yet somersaulted and was heading a JD(U), RJD, and INC govt. But given the social realities of Bihar, the BJP was in no position to get the Governor to delay or derail assent to the Bill. It is important to note that the Governor did not send the Bill for Presidential assent. However, in Telangana, the BJP is certainly creating hurdles, exposing its commitment to social justice. Why else would Presidential assent be held up for over four months?" he said. On Wednesday, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy led a massive dharna in the national captial's Jantar Mantar demanding the President's consent for the Bills He said that if the Bills don't get the approval, it will prove that the BJP is against the backwards class communities. "During the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi promised the people of Telangana that after forming the government, we would conduct a caste census to provide 42 per cent reservation for OBCs. Based on this promise, the people voted the Congress to power," Revanth Reddy told reporters here On the same day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged President Droupadi Murmu to give assent to the bill. Rahul Gandhi went on to reiterate the demand in a post on X, calling it a "collective fight" to ensure that Indians from marginalised communities have their rightful share in power and progress. "The Telangana Government and Congress sat on a dharna in Delhi today, demanding that the President assent to the law reserving 42% for backward classes in education, employment and local government. This law is a major advance towards the Constitution's vision of social justice, grounded in data from the caste census," the Congress leader posted on X. The Telangana OBC Reservation Bill aims to increase the quota for OBCs in local body elections to 42 per cent, reflecting the demographic strength and longstanding demand of backwards communities in the state. (ANI)
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