Why Revanth Reddy, Telangana Delegation Is Planning To Camp In Delhi

The Telangana cabinet has decided that a high-level delegation, led by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, will camp in New Delhi from August 5 to 7, to secure Presidential assent and central government approval for two crucial bills passed by the state legislature, which propose a 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BC) in education, employment, and local bodies.

This comes even as the Telangana High Court has set a deadline for conducting long-overdue local body elections and the stoppage of Finance Commission grants due to the absence of elected bodies.

The state government has already approved an ordinance to remove the 50 per cent reservation cap, a necessary step for implementing the increased quota, and this ordinance is currently awaiting the Governor's approval.

Ponnam Prabhakar, Telangana BC Welfare Minister said after the cabinet meeting yesterday, "This is not a political fight, but a battle for dignity and equal opportunity for more than 90 per cent of Telangana's population, including SCs, STs, BCs, and minorities. The sincerity of the state government is evident in its transparent and data-driven approach, and we urge all political parties, especially the BJP, not to create obstacles in the implementation of the Bills as this is the first initiative taken by any government in the interest of BCs since Independence."

During their three-day visit, the delegation, which will include cabinet ministers, MLAs, MLCs, and senior Congress leaders, plans to meet President Droupadi Murmu to directly request her consent for the pending bills. They also intend to engage with floor leaders, MPs, and presidents of various political parties, including the BJP and BRS, to build a consensus and garner national support for the 42 per cent BC quota.

Telangana's push for increased BC reservation is based on the findings of a comprehensive caste survey conducted by the state, which reportedly indicates that BCs constitute 56.3 per cent of Telangana's population.

The government asserts that this empirical data justifies breaching the traditional 50 per cent reservation cap set by the Supreme Court, similar to models adopted by states like Tamil Nadu under special constitutional provisions.

The Congress government has highlighted that this initiative is a fulfilment of its pre-poll promise and a step towards ensuring social justice and political empowerment for BC communities.

While the BJP has raised concerns regarding the inclusion of certain Muslim sub-groups under the BC-E category within the proposed quota, the Telangana government maintains that reservations are based on socio-economic backwardness, not religion, and that the expanded quota will benefit all eligible backward classes.

Union Minister of State for Home and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay has said Muslim reservation is set to increase in the guise of BC quota.

"Congress is giving a false impression to BCs. They are only offering an additional 5 per cent reservations. BCs already have 27 per cent reservations, and if the 10 per cent reservations for Muslims are removed, then BCs would only receive 5 per cent extra as part of the 42 per cent reservations. We don't have a problem with the BC reservation bill if they exclude Muslims in it, otherwise we will stop this. If we don't stop this here, it will become a template across India."