BRS slams Congress over “flawed” caste survey, seeks re-survey within 15 days

Party says it is a deliberate attempt to suppress Backward Classes numbers, announces statewide protests

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Wednesday slammed the Congress government’s Social, Economic, Employment, Education, Political, and Caste Survey-2024, calling it bogus, flawed, and a deliberate attempt to suppress Backward Classes numbers. The party announced statewide protests, demanding a re-survey within 15 days.

Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan here, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council S Madhusudana Chari charged the Congress with manipulating caste figures instead of increasing BC reservations. Citing Election Commission data from the 2023 Assembly polls, he noted that Telangana had 3.35 crore voters.

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“Assuming at least 25 per cent of the population below 18, Telangana’s total population should be over 4 crore. But the caste census has undercounted it at 3.75 crore, reducing the BC share,” he said. He questioned why Congress never conducted a caste census despite ruling both the State and the country for decades.

Former Minister Gangula Kamalakar said around 40 lakh BCs were deliberately left out, reducing their percentage from 56 per cent to 46 per cent. He cited the Patna High Court’s dismissal of Bihar’s caste census, which was conducted through the Planning Department instead of the BC Commission.

“The Telangana government made the same mistake. This report will not stand in court,” he cautioned. He pointed to the National Family Health Survey 2024, which estimated Telangana’s population at 3.84 crore, and a Union government sample survey, which pegged BCs at 56 per cent. He demanded a fresh enumeration based on the voter list.

BRS Assembly Whip K P Vivekananda called Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s statement in the Assembly on the caste census as a dark day for BCs. He charged the Congress with historically betraying backward classes and vowed that the BRS would continue its fight for BC rights.

BRS MLC L Ramana slammed the Congress for deceiving BCs by offering tickets only in losing constituencies. “They claim to have given 42 per cent tickets to BCs, but it was a calculated deception,” he said. He announced Statewide public mobilisation to expose Congress’s political fraud.