After Women’s Reservation Bill, BRS now to focus on OBC reservations

Apart from mobilising like-minded forces, BRS is devising strategies to garner public support through rallies, meetings and discussions across the country, especially in Telangana and Maharashtra

Hyderabad: After successfully bringing the Women’s Reservation Bill back into the national spotlight and managing to get it passed in the Parliament, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is now preparing for its next fight for the OBC Reservation Bill. Apart from mobilising like-minded forces, the party is devising strategies to garner public support through rallies, meetings and discussions across the country, especially in Telangana and Maharashtra.

Amid speculations of major decisions, the BJP government at the Centre released the agenda for the special session of the Parliament with intention to hold discussion on it’s achievements in the last nine years. However, having championed the cause of women’s representation in politics since its inception, the BRS strategically seized the moment to push for passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

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While BRS legislator K Kavitha who is a strong advocate of the Bill and had held a major protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi earlier this year, acted timely and wrote letters to all political parties to push for inclusion of the Women’s Reservation Bill on the agenda, BRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao himself wrote letters to the Prime Minister for passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill and also the OBC Reservation Bill. Several other political parties also joined the cause and voiced their support, prompting the union government to introduce the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Parliament.

Under these circumstances, the BRS is now directing its attention towards holding the BJP accountable for the implementation of the legislation. The BRS aims to highlight any perceived lack of clarity and concrete efforts from the BJP in implementing the bill effectively.

Further, the BRS is gearing up to place the spotlight on the issue of Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations in legislative bodies. BC leaders from the BRS have already held a meeting where they called on the Centre to conduct an enumeration of BCs across the country. They have vowed to escalate their agitation if the Centre fails to pass the OBC Reservations Bill in Parliament.

Sources said BRS president and Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao is likely to raise the issue of OBC reservations during his massive rally to be held at Wardha in Maharashtra on September 25. The BRS already extended its support to the ongoing agitation by the members and organisations of other backward classes (OBC) opposing inclusion of the Maratha community in the OBC category for reservation. A different strategy is being devised to build an OBC movement in Telangana and other States in a coordinated efforts with like-minded forces, sources said.

The BRS party’s commitment to the cause of OBC reservations is not new. The party played a pivotal role in ensuring that the first State Assembly of Telangana passed unanimous resolutions in favour of both the Women’s Reservation Bill and the OBC Reservation Bill immediately after the State’s formation in 2014, which were then referred to the Centre for approval.