Jagan demands Naidu apology after Andhra Pradesh quota setback

YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy accused Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of misleading Backward Classes over promised election quotas after the Supreme Court declined to overturn their cancellation.

In a social media statement reported by The Hindu on October 10, Reddy demanded an apology. He also attacked the Super Six pledge package, the cancellation of programmes run under the previous YSRCP government and the coalition manifesto's 143 promises. Those characterisations were the opposition leader's political assessment.

On October 9, the Supreme Court dismissed the Andhra Pradesh government's challenge to a High Court judgment concerning reservations in elections to rural and urban local bodies.

A High Court division bench headed by Chief Justice Lisa Gill and including Justice Challa Gunaranjan had set aside Government Orders 105 and 1065 on October 8. They provided 34% reservations for Backward Classes in Panchayat Raj institutions and 33.33% in urban local bodies.

The Hindu reported that the court found the arrangements exceeded the overall 50% reservation ceiling laid down by the Supreme Court. That refers to the combined ceiling, rather than the Backward Classes quota alone accounting for more than half the seats.

Naidu announced the quotas several weeks earlier, describing Backward Classes as the political and socioeconomic backbone of the Telugu Desam Party.