As political parties stepped up pressure for implementation of 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in higher education institutions, stayed yesterday by the Supreme Court, the State Assemblies of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh asked the Centre to find ways to tide over the court’s interim order.

Calling for a joint session of the two Houses of Parliament, the Tamil Nadu Assembly said the court’s “interim order has caused a setback to the social and educational advancement of the oppressed classes. The order also affects the right of the Parliament. Therefore, the two Houses of Parliament may immediately be convened to discuss and take appropriate decisions.”

Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly adopted a resolution that the Centre must take all measures to ensure 27 per cent reservation for OBCs. The AP government, however, stopped short of including the Opposition’s demand that the Centre convene a special session of Parliament. A team led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy will also meet the Prime Minister in Delhi tomorrow evening, to discuss the issue with him.

Both states will have bandhs tomorrow, the one in Tamil Nadu being called by the ruling coalition and the one in Andhra Pradesh by associations of backward class communities. In Tamil Nadu, the government has declared a holiday tomorrow under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

The movement of trains is likely to come to a halt during the bandh as Southern Railways has either cancelled or rescheduled trains arriving and departing from Tamil Nadu, while buses, taxis and autorickshaws are expected to stay off the roads. Airlines, however, have said they will operate flights if passengers turn up. Even so, officials have been told to prepare to reschedule flights and warnings have been put out for passengers.

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