T'gana CM meets PM, seeks constitutional safeguard for Muslim

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today sought the prime minister's intervention to ensure a constitutional safeguard for the state's new legislation offering 12 per cent reservation for Muslims.
At a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, Rao demanded the bill to increase reservation in government jobs and education for backward Muslims, be included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, which will help the legislation bypass judicial scrutiny, sources said.
The Telangana assembly had a week ago passed the bill to increase reservation for backward Muslims from 4 per cent to 12 per cent.
The new legislation would increase the reservation percentage to a level above the Supreme Court cap of 50 per cent, which the state already offers, including that of 4 per cent to Muslims.

Rao also raised several state-specific demands, including bifurcation of high court, increase in the number of seats in the Assembly and release of the state's share of central grants, the sources said.
The chief minister also met Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad and sought clearance of a land acquisition bill passed by the state legislature, they said.