Karti differs with Cong, says opposing EWS quota as it’s exclusionary

NEW DELHI: Taking a view divergent from his party, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Wednesday said he was opposed to the 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections (EWS) as it was “exclusionary”. He also welcomed the DMK’s decision to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its verdict on the quota.

The Supreme Court on Monday had upheld by a 3-2 majority the 10 per cent quota for the EWS in educational institutions and government jobs, saying it was not discriminatory and did not violate the basic structure of the Constitution. The Congress had welcomed the Supreme Court verdict and said the amendment providing for it was the result of a process initiated by the Manmohan Singh government. Taking to Twitter, Chidambaram said, “I oppose EWS Quota as it’s exclusionary and not all inclusive.”

“If ‘economic’ criteria is applied, it cannot exclude people based on ‘caste’, this is my fundamental objection to EWS Quota,” the Lok Sabha MP from Sivaganga said in another tweet. Tagging a tweet by a DMK office-bearer who said his party would file a review petition, Chidambaram said he welcomes the initiative.

On Monday when the judgement had come, he had tweeted, “Today’s SC judgment on the EWS quota excludes many from accessing the quota on economic grounds. A 3:2 split judgement indicates contrasting viewpoints that need to be addressed. The criteria of EWS is also arbitrary. The judgment doesn’t aid in true economic/social uplift.”

On Tuesday, Karti Chidambaram’s father and Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram had noted that the verdict was in two parts. “Part I: All five Honourable judges agreed that a new reservation can be carved out applying economic criteria, Part II: The Court was divided 3:2 on the question of excluding the OBC, SC and ST from the new category of ‘poor’,” P Chidambaram had said. “The powerful dissent of the two Honourable judges underlined the truth that the basic structure of the Indian Constitution did not permit exclusion. There are poor among all castes and communities. The moot question is ‘will the poor be treated equally under the Constitution?” he had said.

Chidambaram had said he is sure that the Supreme Court will be petitioned to revisit the issue on which the judges were divided.