Amaravati: YSRCP and TDP blame each other over 59 per cent reservation in local body elections by AP High Court

Amaravati: The quashing of state government's decision on 59 per cent reservation in local body elections by AP High Court triggered a war of words between ruling YSRCP and opposition TDP on Monday.

Municipal administration and urban development minister Botcha Satyanaryana said that TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu had scant respect for social justice and the upliftment of weaker sections. He made these allegations at a press conference at Tadepalli after the court delivered its verdict.

"Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy took the decision in the cabinet to provide 59 per cent reservations to the weaker sections in local bodies elections but Chandrababu Naidu directed his lower-rung leaders to file a cases to stall the hike in quota. This clearly shows that he is against the weaker sections and he does not want social justice and their empowerment," he said. He said Naidu would remain as a characterless person in history of AP by making his crony B Pratap Reddy file a writ petition in the High Court against the Jagan government's initiative.

On the other hand, TDP leader and former minister Kollu Ravindra, in a press conference, said that on the one hand the Chief Minister announced 59 per cent reservations and on the other he sent his follower Pratap Reddy to file a Public Interest Litigation in High Court. Now the YSRCP leaders began blaming the TDP for their efficiency, he criticised. Further, Ravindra said that despite claiming that the YSRCP had been striving for the development of the BCs, Jagan mercilessly betrayed the community.