912 Muslims, due to BC-E status, got elected to various posts in the recent local body elections in Telangana and AP, the Congress leader said.
For the first time ever, as many as 912 Muslims, categorised as BC-E, got elected to different posts in the recently held elections for municipal corporations, municipalities, Nagar Panchayats and Gram Panchayats in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Releasing the statistics and analysis, Leader of the Opposition in the Telangana Assembly K Jana Reddy and Deputy CLP leader in the Telangana Council Mohammad Ali Shabbir claimed that the policy of Muslim reservation, introduced by the Congress Government in 2004, was responsible for the election of more than 900 Muslims to different posts.
So far, due to the BC-E reservations, 3 Muslims became Mayors, 5 became Municipal Chairmen, 19 Vice-Chairmen, 2 ZP Chairmen, 2 MPP Presidents, 37 Corporators, 327 Councillors, 15 ZPTCs, 236 MPTCs and 266 Sarpanches.
The leaders said that that it was the Congress Government which laid the foundation for the educational, social, economic and political empowerment of Muslims by introducing a 5% reservation in 2004.
Despite facing several obstacles, the Congress implemented the Muslim reservation policy during its 10-year tenure, and its benefits are still being enjoyed by the Muslim community, Jana Reddy said.
Shabbir Ali informed that the benefit of political reservations being given to the BCs in the municipal and other local bodies (rural and urban) was also extended to Muslims who were clubbed into the BC-E category, for the first time in the last GHMC elections held in 2009. As a result, 2 Muslim candidates got elected from the seats reserved for BCs. Present GHMC Mayor Majid Hussain was elected from Ahmednagar, a division which was reserved for BCs.
"It was a great beginning and the first step towards political empowerment of the Muslim community. The major impact was seen in the Gram Panchayat elections held in 2013. The results were highly encouraging, and for the first time in the history of Andhra Pradesh (undivided), the number of Muslim sarpanchs crossed double digits (266) due to the BC-E reservation. While 89 Muslims got elected from 8,701 Gram Panchayats in Telangana, as many as 177 Muslims were elected from 12,770 GPs in Andhra Pradesh (Seemandhra). This was a major leap in the political empowerment of Muslims due to the BC-E reservation," he said.
In the recently held elections, S K Abdul Azeez and Shaik Noorjahan became Mayors of Nellore and Eluru respectively. Both were elected from seats reserved for BCs. Similarly, 4 out of 5 Muslim Municipal Chairmen were elected from the seats reserved for BCs in Andhra Pradesh. The lone Muslim Municipal Chairman of Telangana, Sabiya Begum of Bhainsa, was also elected from a BC (W) seat. 7 out of 12 Muslims elected as Vice-Chairmen in Telangana, and 11 out of 12 Muslim VCs in Andhra Pradesh, won from seats reserved for BCs.
The Muslim reservation played a major role in increasing the community's representation in all the municipal bodies. For instance, 24 Muslim candidates got elected in the 150 seats that went to polls in Karimnagar, Ramagundam and Nizamabad. Out of the 24, as many as 13 were elected under BC-E. As against the present representation of 16%, the Muslim percentage in these corporations would have been just 7.33% without the reservation.
Similarly, 114 of 206 Muslim Councillors in Telangana were elected from seats reserved for BCs. Currently, their percentage in the municipalities of Telangana is 14.72, and it would otherwise have been only 6.58.
The impact of Muslim reservations is quite encouraging in Andhra Pradesh, the leaders said. Out of 31 Muslim Corporators, 22 were elected from seats reserved for BCs. Similarly, out of 292 Muslim Councillors, a whopping 213 were elected from seats reserved for BCs.
The reservation policy also benefitted Muslims in the ZPTC and MPTC elections, the leaders said. Currently, 11 out of 12 Muslim ZPTC members in Andhra Pradesh and 4 out of 9 Muslim ZPTC members in Telangana are in due to their status of BC-E candidates. Likewise, 163 out of 262 Muslim MPTC members were elected under the BC quota in Andhra Pradesh, while 73 out of 138 Muslim MPTC members in Telangana were elected from seats reserved for BCs.
"These statistics are a proof of the real empowerment of backward and poor Muslims. The Congress party has not gained anything out of this scheme, but it has sown the seeds of development for a community, and now that tree has started giving fruits," Shabbir Ali said. (INN)