Hyderabad: The BC quota reservation issue has reached Delhi now, with Governor Jishnu Dev Varma sending the ‘Panchayat Raj Act (Amendment) Ordinance – 2018 for BC quota in local body elections to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs seeking its legal opinion.

The ordinance for the BC reservations had virtually set the cat among the pigeons with political parties waiting eagerly for the decision of the Governor. All eyes were on the Governor as the High Court had set September 30 as the deadline for elections to the local bodies.

The state government had announced that 42 per cent reservations will be provided to the BCs in the polls to local bodies. Caught off guard, political circles wanted to be clear on how the government would move forward should there be no approval by the Governor.

The ordinance reached Raj Bhavan on July 15, and, as per Raj Bhavan sources, the Governor would have to take a decision before July 29.

With very few days left for the taking a decision, the Governor is learnt to have discussed the legalities with the state Advocate General, seeking to know whether there will be any legal implications if the ordinance is approved.

The discussions lasted more than three hours, Raj Bhavan sources said. It is learnt that the Governor had expressed his doubts whether the ordinance would be going against the spirit of the Supreme Court’s ruling that reservations should not cross the 50 per cent cap. Presently, the amendment bill is with the Union Home Ministry and this is the reason why the ordinance also was sent to the Home Ministry.