Oppn says it’ll back govt on OBCS bill

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Monday decided to “cooperate” with the government to pass the 127th amendment to the Constitution, restoring the power of states to identify socially and economically backward classes for reservation (quotas) in jobs and college admissions -- something that was taken away after a May verdict of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench that said only the President of India had this power.

The decision of as many as 14 Opposition parties means that a Bill will finally be passed peacefully in the Monsoon Session that has suffered unabated disruptions and protests from the beginning. The Opposition, however, also decided to continue, inside and outside Parliament, its agitation over the Pegasus snooping controversy, the farm laws and spiraling price rise.

In the Opposition’s meeting on Monday to decide a collective strategy for the last week of the ongoing session, Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge initiated the discussion, highlighting the need to reach a consensus on the 127th constitutional amendment.

According to two leaders present in the meeting, he highlighted how states would benefit and how this important legislation has been brought to bypass the Supreme Court ruling.

“All parties agreed to support the legislation to ensure that the Constitutional amendment is passed in unanimity,” said Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader NK Premachandran.

The Union government’s review petition on the May verdict was also dismissed by the Supreme Court, necessitating the legislative approach even as states accused the Centre of taking away their rights in violation of the federal structure of the Constitution.

Last month, social justice minister Virendra Kumar assured the Upper House that the government was in consultation with legal experts to find a way around the SC’S ruling.