Hyderabad: Hyderabad DCC president Syed Khalid Saifullah challenged Telangana BJP chief N. Ramchander Rao to substantiate his minority welfare claims. He sought documentary evidence for Rao’s assertion that minorities accounted for 22% to 37% of beneficiaries under Central welfare schemes.
Saifullah said Rao had cited the figures while referring to the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
He alleged that official records did not support those figures. According to Saifullah, government data showed a much lower minority share under the Mudra scheme in different years.
“Mr Ramchander Rao is the president of a national party’s Telangana unit. When he quotes figures concerning crores of citizens, he has a responsibility to produce evidence. The Government of India’s own documents do not support the numbers he is presenting to the people of Telangana,” Saifullah said.
Minority welfare claims questioned over Mudra data
Saifullah cited the NITI Aayog impact assessment of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana issued in November 2023. He referred to Table 24, which recorded minority shares of Mudra accounts at about 12%, 13%, 11%, 10%, 10%, 8% and 14% between 2015 and 2022.
He also said the minority share of the amount disbursed under Mudra did not exceed 12% during the period. Saifullah stressed that account share and total lending represented separate indicators.
He further cited a Union Finance Ministry press release dated October 29, 2024. According to Saifullah, minority borrowers received ₹45,088 crore under Mudra during 2023-24.
He said the amount represented about 8.5% of total lending under the scheme that year. An SBI research report, Saifullah added, placed the minority share at around 11%.
“Eight per cent, eleven per cent, fourteen per cent – where is the 22% to 37% that the BJP President is claiming? These are not Congress figures. These are figures contained in institutions and documents of his own government,” Saifullah said.
The Hyderabad DCC president then questioned the basis for Rao’s figures concerning Jan Dhan and Ujjwala. He demanded details of the source and methodology used to calculate nationwide religion-wise beneficiary percentages.
Saifullah said the Jan Dhan application did not seek an applicant’s religion. He added that the Ujjwala application classified applicants under categories such as General, SC, ST and OBC.
He therefore questioned how the BJP had arrived at a precise religion-wise figure such as 37%. Saifullah asked the party to explain the data used to reach that figure.
Scholarship schemes face scrutiny
Saifullah also referred to a similar figure cited by former Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in the Lok Sabha in March 2022. He said Naqvi had attributed the figure to a “study”.
The Hyderabad DCC president challenged the BJP to release the study publicly. He sought its title, author, methodology and underlying data for public examination.
“If this study exists, publish it. Let journalists, researchers and the people of Telangana examine it. A political speech cannot substitute for verifiable government data,” he said.
Saifullah also accused the BJP of creating an impression of continued support for minority students despite the discontinuation of several educational schemes.
He cited a Lok Sabha reply dated February 4, 2026, by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju concerning the pre-matric, post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarship schemes.
The DCC president also referred to the discontinuation of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, Padho Pardesh and Nai Udaan. He highlighted an earlier reduction in the Ministry of Minority Affairs’ budget from ₹5,020 crore to ₹3,097 crore.
The Hyderabad DCC president said the minority welfare claims should be assessed against the available government records.
“You cannot discontinue schemes and scholarships on one hand and then go before minorities and present the record as extraordinary generosity on the other. People deserve facts, not selective statistics,” Saifullah said.
He demanded that Ramchander Rao place documentary evidence supporting the 22% to 37% claim in the public domain.
“Mr Ramchander Rao, I am putting the Government of India’s own documents on the table. Now put yours on the table. Produce the study and the official data supporting your 22–37% claim. If you cannot produce them, withdraw these figures and apologise to the minorities of Telangana for misleading them,” Saifullah said.