KTR slams Congress over caste census, demands apology from Rahul Gandhi for backstabbing BCs in Telangana
Accuses it of manipulating BC population data, failing to fulfil promise of 42% reservation in local body polls
Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao has charged the Congress with backstabbing Backward Classes (BCs) in Telangana by conducting a flawed caste census and demanded that Congress Lok Sabha leader Rahul Gandhi apologise for misleading Parliament about its completion.
He slammed the Congress for manipulating BC population data and failing to fulfill its promise of 42 per cent reservation in local body elections.
In a strongly worded letter to Congress Lok Sabha leader Rahul Gandhi, Rama Rao criticised that the Congress government deliberately reduced BC numbers to deny them their rightful share in reservations.
He questioned how the BC population, which was 1.85 crore (51 per cent) in the BRS government’s Comprehensive Household Survey-2014, had now dropped to 1.64 crore (46 per cent) in the Congress-led caste census within a decade.
“If Muslim BCs are included, BCs constitute 61 per cent of Telangana’s population. How did their numbers fall while upper caste populations increased?” he asked.
He blamed the Congress for using the caste survey as a political tool, branding its findings a deception aimed at electoral gains.
He also criticised the Congress for abandoning the Kamareddy BC Declaration, where it had promised 42 per cent BC reservations in local body elections.
The BRS working president lambasted Rahul Gandhi’s statement in Parliament, where he claimed the caste census in Telangana was complete, despite the exclusion of lakhs of people.
He questioned the Congress leader’s false claims of delivering the promises made in Telangana during the election campaign, in a bid to use it for campaigning in other election-bound States.
“This is a mockery of democracy. Parliament is being misled with false data,” he said.
Adding that BC organisations have already torn up the report in protest, he warned Rahul Gandhi against any attempts to push the blame on to the Centre, rather than addressing the discrepancies in the survey.
He warned that BCs will not forgive Congress for manipulating their population figures and denying them their due share. He charged that the Congress turned a crucial BC reservation policy into a farce, leading to serious injustice.
He feared that the Congress government’s mistake could pose a threat to employment and political opportunities to the BCs.
“The Congress has fooled people with fake guarantees earlier and now with a fake caste census. Telangana’s BCs will never trust Congress again — not in local body polls, nor in any future election,” he asserted.
He demanded that Rahul Gandhi issue an unconditional apology to BCs in Telangana for this betrayal.
