Modi took radical steps to bring OBC Bill: Deve Gowda

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday said the PM took radical steps to bring a constitution amendment bill to restore the powers of the states to make their own OBC lists.

Participating in the debate in Rajya Sabha on the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021, Gowda said he will fully support the Bill and the legislation will benefit a large section of the society.

“I will appreciate the Bill which will allow states to make their own OBC list,” he said.

Recalling his tenure as the chief minister in Karnataka, he said he was the first to introduce 23 per cent reservation to OBCs which allowed backward class candidates to get reservation in jobs and professional courses.

He said he had also introduced reservations for Muslims and Vokkaligas and Lingayats. Nobody had opposed this and nobody had gone to the court, he said.