Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy today took part in the BC Kranthi celebrations held at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada.
Speaking on the occasion, Reddy reminisced that he had taken his oath of office as Chief Minister in the same stadium 18 months ago, and expressed his happiness at being able to address a gathering of the BC community there.
The CM also said that he was happy that there were many BC women in the BC corporations of the state.
"In a first for any state in the country, BC women in Andhra Pradesh hold nearly half the positions in the BC corporations of the state," he added.
Reddy also made clear his belief that he did not consider the community to be backward.
He said, "The BCs are not the backward classes. They are instead the cultural backbone of the state."
Lashing out at his predecessors, the CM alleged that they had broken the backbone of the BC community with their exploitative and exclusionary ways, and claimed that this was what had made the community backward.
He then claimed that unlike them, the current YSR Congress Party regime was committed to the welfare of the community, and had been fulfilling all the promises it had made to the BCs.
"The BCs have been able to progress under the rule of the YSRCP. We have supported them, and have given them the platforms and positions that will help them improve the lot of their community. Four out of the five deputy CMs of the state are BCs. The speaker of the Assembly too is a member of the BC community. We have even given 60% of the ministerial positions in the Cabinet to individuals from the weaker sections of the state. Due to our commitment to minority welfare, we have been able to fulfil 90% of our promises to the community in just 18 months," he stated.