Stalin seeks support of top national leaders on OBC reservation

DMK chief M K Stalin on Wednesday dialled the country's top political leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, seeking their cooperation in "exerting pressure" on the Centre to provide OBC reservation in medical admissions.

Stalin also spoke to non-BJP, non-Congress Chief Ministers, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and K Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana, besides their Maharashtra and West Bengal counterparts Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee, respectively, a party release said.

The Madras High Court had on Monday directed the Central government to constitute a committee to decide on the issue of providing OBC reservation in all-India seats (AIQ) surrendered by Tamil Nadu for medical admission. Such a committee comprising representatives from the Centre, state and Medical Council of India should be constituted within three months, the court had said.

In a tweet, Stalin said he had spoken to the leaders after the High Court's "historical judgment," seeking their support to "urge the Centre to convene a committee meeting on priority, include OBC reservation in state contributed medical seats to AIQ (All India Quota) and uphold state reservation laws." He also spoke to former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, BSP supremo Mayawati, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and NC leader Omar Abdullah.