YSR, No Sir

The Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh is under the mistaken notion that persistence can be made to pay; that with some clever manipulation of percentages, it would be able to get its policy of introducing a Muslim quota in the state past the watchful eye of the courts. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has already struck down two earlier attempts of this kind and the Supreme Court, in the last instance, had refused to overrule the high court8217;s verdict. This should tell us that the Andhra government8217;s pet project does not quite pass the test of constitutional validity and the prevailing laws of the land.

But there is another reason why Andhra8217;s haste in trying to barrel through a religion-based quota regime smacks of the greatest irresponsibility. The Sachar Committee Report has led to an important and many-layered debate on the empowerment of a community that has, going by available data, fallen behind the rest of the country in economic and social indices. The question is whether such correction is better addressed through silver bullet solutions like reservations, or whether a more nuanced, multi-dimensional approach wouldn8217;t prove more efficacious. But the Andhra Pradesh government, it appears, is far too impatient for such an application of mind. This begs the question, is it really concerned about the welfare of Muslims as a community, or is its quota agenda marching to a different drum-beat? Political opponents of the Congress in the state and sceptics would say that the latter is indeed the case. Anxiety to firm up the party8217;s political base with an assembly election just two years away is the motivating factor for the rush to push through the quota.

This is unfortunate, given the fact that Rajasekhara Reddy is perceived to run one of the more effective Congress state governments in the country. One would have thought his political appeal rested on rather firmer foundations than a Muslim quota that is largely symbolic in its potential and potentially extremely divisive.