Hyderabad: Leaders from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) accused the government led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of failing to push the BC Reservations Bill through to the President. Despite it being a month since the bill was introduced, no sincere efforts have been made, risking the inclusion of reservations in the forthcoming local elections.
At a press conference, senior leader V Srinivas Goud highlighted the ongoing national discussions about the backwardness of Other Backward Classes (OBC). The Central government has even agreed to conduct a caste census, potentially offering OBCs legislative reservations. However, doubts loom over the promised 42% reservations in state local elections. Goud questioned why the ordinance has not received the Governor‘s nod and criticized the Chief Minister’s previous statements in the capital.
The BRS accused both Congress and BJP of staging political dramas to win BC votes. Goud argued that BC reservations would only increase if added to the Ninth Schedule. He accused the BJP of using Muslim reservations as a pretext to block BC reservation increases, challenging whether Muslims receive reservations in BJP-governed states or are included in EWS (Economically Weaker Section) reservations. He reminded that Revanth Reddy, while in opposition, claimed reservations were outside state jurisdiction and local attempts to increase them would lead to imprisonment. Goud questioned why Reddy stopped the Governor from approving the reservation increase ordinance.
Goud further accused Reddy of not working earnestly with the Centre to get the BC Bills approved. He urged the Chief Minister and ministers to go to Delhi to ensure the passage of the BC Bills before returning to Hyderabad. He warned that BCs are unwilling to be misled by Congress and BJP again. He questioned Congress leaders who celebrated the ordinance’s submission to the Governor, asking for their current stance. Goud also mentioned that if an all-party delegation went to Delhi, they would participate.
Former MLA D Vinay Bhaskar emphasized that Congress had made numerous promises to BCs during elections but failed to take necessary actions for them within the state government. He insisted that, as per the Congress manifesto, local elections should only proceed after granting BCs 42% reservations. He vowed to apply pressure on the government, alongside BC associations, to secure these reservations. Balaraju Yadav, K Kishore Goud, Shubhprad Patel, and Gautam Prasad attended the press conference.
