Andhra MBBS admissions row: LCP demands halt, says reserved-category merit ignored

The Liberation Congress Party (LCP) has asked the Andhra Pradesh government to immediately suspend the ongoing MBBS counselling process and reinstate an earlier admission framework, alleging that high-scoring candidates from reserved categories are being denied consideration under the Open Competition (OC) quota.

Speaking at a programme organised by the Andhra Pradesh Medicos Parents Association in Vijayawada on Thursday, LCP national president Vijay Kumar G. Srkr said the party had cautioned the government months ago that G.O. No. 102 would cause injustice to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) students. He asserted that the first round of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences 2026 MBBS counselling had confirmed those concerns.

Mr. Vijay Kumar said that in the AU region, 43 reserved-category candidates who secured ranks better than the OC cut-off rank of 71,547 were allotted seats under their respective reserved categories instead of being considered under the OC quota. Similarly, in the SVU region, 27 reserved-category candidates who scored better than the OC cut-off rank of 94,966 allegedly faced the same situation.

The party has put forward several demands. These include stopping further rounds of counselling under G.O. No. 102; withdrawing or amending the order to restore the OC entitlement of meritorious reserved-category candidates; cancelling admissions allegedly made in violation of existing rules; conducting fresh counselling under G.O. No. 151; issuing a written response to the Medicos Parents Association and the LCP; and making a public announcement about corrective action for affected students.

The LCP has also urged Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav to clarify what corrective measures his department would take to protect the interests of affected SC, ST and OBC candidates. As of now, no official response from the government or the university has been reported.

Reservation and open competition are not mutually exclusive: candidates from reserved categories are generally eligible to be selected on merit under the OC quota if their ranks fall above the corresponding cut-off. The LCP contends that this principle has not been followed in the current counselling round. G.O. No. 102 is the order currently governing admissions, while G.O. No. 151, according to the party, had earlier allowed reserved-category candidates with ranks better than the OC cut-off to be considered under the general category.

This issue is part of a broader debate in India over the balance between reservation and open merit, particularly in professional education admissions. The state government has yet to explain the rationale behind the current order or respond to the allegations made by the party.