Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday rejected the BJP’s demand to exclude Muslims from the 42% BC reservations in Telangana, calling it hypocritical and politically motivated.
Speaking to the media in Delhi, Revanth challenged BJP leaders G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay to first eliminate Muslim OBC reservations in BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra before raising the issue in Telangana.
He accused the BJP of applying double standards by allowing OBC benefits to Muslims in its own states while objecting to their inclusion in Telangana. “How can there be one policy for Muslims in Gujarat and another in Telangana?” he asked.
Revanth said the state’s reservation bill was based on a caste-based survey and has no mention of religion. He argued that the BJP is once again trying to polarise the issue along communal lines.
The Chief Minister said Telangana had completed its caste census and introduced the 42% BC quota bill in both the Assembly and Legislative Council. The bill has been sent to the President for assent, and efforts are underway to secure support from BJP allies at the Centre.
He said the state will press the Centre to approve the bill before the High Court’s deadline to conduct local body polls by the end of September.
Revanth warned that the campaign for BC quota approval would match the intensity of the farmers’ protests against the now-repealed farm laws. He added that personal data from the caste survey was not disclosed, and that 3.99% of respondents chose not to state their religion.
He also criticised the BJP for sidelining BC leaders from Telangana, citing the removal of Bandi Sanjay as state BJP chief and Bandaru Dattatreya as governor. He demanded the Centre appoint Dattatreya as Vice President.
Revanth said the BC quota policy is being implemented strictly as per the recommendations of an independent expert committee and blamed political opponents for deliberately sowing confusion.
