Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy Saturday appealed to BC communities and Congress leaders to own up the caste survey, that is “most authentic and scientifically conducted by the govt, and not fall prey to the opposition BRS and BJP criticism to project it as a report with errors and scuttle the enhancement of BC reservations.”
“BCs should understand that it is now or never for them to seek their fair share in every sector. BJP is scared that if the BCs accept the report, they will ask for their share and also demand a caste census even at the national level,” he added.
“As the CM, I did my job by fulfilling the promise of Rahul Gandhi of conducting a caste survey, and it is your responsibility to save this exercise, or else history will not forgive. Own up the survey and don’t make it an orphan,” Revanth told the party leaders at a meeting attended by ministers, MPs, MLCs, MLAs, TPCC president at Praja Bhavan.
“Yes, the Congress govt will make 42% reservations to BCs a legislation in the assembly, but it would be better if the survey gets larger acceptance from the public too, especially all BC castes. The Congress leaders from the BC community should hold meetings with their respective caste communities, convince them to accept the report, take their suggestions and demands, and submit them to the govt by March 10, the CM said.
BRS and BJP cannot appreciate the survey. BRS knows that if it accepts, it would be the end of their political future and does not want Congress to get the credit. “Bandi Sanjay and other BJP leaders are opposing as Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be under pressure from Rahul Gandhi and like-minded parties to conduct the caste census in the entire country if the saffron party accepts the report of the Telangana govt,” the CM added.
The CM moved a resolution asking the Centre to include caste census in the general census. “Let’s place the caste census reports of Modi govt and that of Rahul Gandhi (Cong govt in Telangana). Then let BJP prove what is wrong in our survey report. BRS and BJP should pinpointedly show us in which block or house mistakes have happened,” Revanth said.
The second round of the survey is being conducted to give another opportunity to those who missed it and also keeping in view the possibility of courts saying that enough opportunity was not given to submit details.
“Tell the people that the Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS) done in 12 hours on a single day is neither an official document nor is it authentic. BRS used it for political gains in elections. While SKS revealed BC population at 51%, the Cong govt survey shows 56.33 % BC population,” he added.
“History will not forgive you if you miss this opportunity. I am appealing to all BC sub-castes to show unity and get political, education, employment, and other benefits based on the caste survey. The caste survey is like the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Quran for all the weaker sections,” CM Revanth added.