BJP Spreading Lies On Caste Census: Revanth Reddy

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy today accused the BJP of disseminating false propaganda against the State's caste census initiative.

Speaking at a meeting with Backward Class (BC) leaders at Praja Bhavan, Reddy alleged that the BJP was deliberately misrepresenting the process to protect the interests of certain influential social groups within the party.

"The BJP leaders are plotting against the caste census because they believe that a few influential social groups within the BJP will be adversely affected," the CM claimed.

He accused the BJP of pursuing a hidden agenda to undermine reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs by delaying the decennial census, and called upon the BJP-led Union government to include a caste survey in the national census.

He also challenged opposition leaders including K Chandrashekar Rao, Bandi Sanjay and Kishan Reddy to identify specific errors in the Congress government's caste survey.

"I am challenging the BJP to include caste surveys in the national census and then prove who is wrong," he said, and urged BC leaders to mobilize and campaign for such a caste census.

The CM also criticized the previous BRS government for "conducting a superficial survey and withholding its details for political gain".

He said that the Congress government on the contrary was committed to social justice, and had completed 92% of the caste survey in Telangana.

He credited Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the idea of a caste census during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, which he said had now been implemented in Telangana.

For context, the CM had tabled a summary of the caste survey report in the State Assembly earlier this month. The report indicated that BCs constituted 56.33% of Telangana's population. Reddy had then pledged that 42% of the Congress tickets for the upcoming panchayat and municipal elections would be allocated to BC candidates until the reservation was constitutionally ensured.