Chennai: AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami recently emphasized the party’s significant role in securing and protecting reservation policies in Tamil Nadu.
He highlighted the contributions of party leaders M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) and J. Jayalalithaa, who increased the reservation for backward communities from 31% to 50%, and later to 69%, ensuring it was legally protected under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
In 2009, the AIADMK government introduced a 3% internal reservation for the Arundhathiyar community within the 18% quota for Scheduled Castes. However, during the DMK regime in 2010, legal challenges threatened this provision. The issue escalated to the Supreme Court, where the AIADMK’s legal efforts led to a favorable ruling in 2020, which was upheld by a seven-judge bench on August 1, 2024.
Palaniswami credited the party’s legal strategies and the support of the Arundhathiyar community for this historic victory, asserting that AIADMK’s contributions to social justice will be remembered in Tamil Nadu’s history.