Congress treating BCs as beggars, says Talasani Srinivas Yadav

BRS leader Talasani Srinivas Yadav accused the Congress of betraying BCs by offering election tickets instead of legal reservations. He warned of protests if local polls are held without constitutional guarantees

Karimnagar: Senior BRS leader and former Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav on Monday accused the State government of treating the Backward Classes (BCs) as beggars by promising Congress party tickets to them in the local body elections.

He said the Congress, which had promised to provide 42 per cent reservations to BCs in all sectors, had deceived the community by backtracking. Having realised that it was not possible to include the subject in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, the party was now offering 42 per cent tickets to BCs in local body polls.

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“BCs are not beggars to accept party tickets in lieu of legal reservations,” he said, adding that the government should conduct local body polls only after securing reservations through constitutional means by including the subject in the Ninth Schedule.

Otherwise, he warned, there would be no question of allowing the government to proceed with the polls. “People will teach a befitting lesson to the government if it goes to elections without including BC reservations in the Ninth Schedule,” he said at a press conference here.

Responding to Congress leaders’ remarks that the BRS was not questioning the BJP over the reservation issue, Srinivas Yadav said the BJP was not present when the Congress made the Kamareddy declaration, in which it promised 42 per cent reservations to BCs in education, employment and politics. The BRS had already assured the government of its unanimous support on the matter, he added.

Terming the BC caste survey as flawed, he alleged that the Bill was rushed through the Assembly and sent to the President without verifying legal aspects. Without receiving any response from the President, the Congress staged a dharna in New Delhi and then decided to bring in an ordinance, he said.

Instead of working to achieve reservations, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had used the Delhi dharna to criticise BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao and praise AICC leader Rahul Gandhi, Srinivas Yadav alleged.

Earlier in the day, he, along with other BRS leaders, inspected the proposed BC Kadana Bheri meeting venue at the Circus Grounds here. The meeting is scheduled for August 14.

Reacting to the Chief Minister’s recent remarks that he had made a member of the washermen community an MLA and a fisherman a Minister, Srinivas Yadav said the comments reflected Revanth Reddy’s arrogance towards BC communities.