An all-party meet convened by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Saturday November 12, adopted resolution against the 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the general category. The meeting resolved to file a review petition against the recent Supreme Court verdict which upheld the quota. The Tamil Nadu government has also decided not to implement the EWS quota.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin called for the meeting of leaders of all legislative parties in the state after the Supreme Court upheld the 10% EWS quota in education and government jobs on November 7. While the Congress in Tamil Nadu and the Left parties including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) pledged their support to the resolution, it was not clear whether they signed it. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the main Opposition party in Tamil Nadu, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) boycotted the meeting.
A five-judge bench comprising Former Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi, and JB Pardiwala delivered four judgments while hearing a batch of petitions. While three judges upheld the constitutional validity of the amendment, two others, including Chief Justice UU Lalit, passed a dissenting judgment.
Leaders from all parties which are in alliance with the DMK, including the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) attended the meeting.
"Despite the view of the Congress on EWS being different nationally, the party in Tamil Nadu has lend its support to the Tamil Nadu government based on social justice ideology," said Selvaperunthagai, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in Tamil Nadu Assembly while supporting the resolution passed by MK Stalin.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, while passing the resolution, said that there is no provision for reservation based on economic criteria in the Indian Constitution. Providing reservation on the basis of social and educational disadvantage is the right way.
The CPI(M) in the meeting asked the government to conduct a census of the general category which is set to benefit from the EWS quota. "The existing reservation in the state almost covers 95% of the population. Data says that only 5% of people do not benefit from the reservation. Providing 10% reservation to the five percent of people is huge and hence a census is needed. A commission should be constituted to decide on the percentage of reservations to them based on the survey,” it said. The caste-based reservation IN Tamil Nadu stands at 69 percent and applies to about 87 percent of the population, according to some estimates.
Thol Thirumavalavan, founder of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) urged the Tamil Nadu government not to implement the EWS quota and also to coordinate with chief ministers from non-BJP states to protect social justice. "The 103rd amendment of the Constitution which provides 10% reservation to EWSn gives more opportunities to people who are already socially advanced and have more representation," VCK said while listing down why EWS quota is against the basic structure of Indian Constitution.
In a press conference on November 11, D Jayakumar, organising secretary of the AIADMK said the party welcomes the SC verdict on EWS. "Even the Congress which is in alliance with DMK in Tamil Nadu accepted the EWS quota," Jayakumar said. The party faulted the DMK for not consulting other parties in the state when the issue was sub-judice.
Both DMK and AIADMK had opposed the Bill in the Rajya Sabha when it was introduced back in January 2019. But in Lok Sabha, 18 parties including AIADMK supported the Bill.