The political landscape in Telangana is currently dominated by a high-stakes standoff over the implementation of a 42 percent reservation for Backwards Classes (BC), leading to a series of protests and political blame games among the state's major parties.
The issue has gained urgency due to the upcoming local body elections and a Telangana High Court directive to finalise reservations by the end of September. The Congress government, which passed two Bills in the state assembly to increase the BC quota in local bodies, education, and employment, is now pointing fingers at the Centre for the delay.
The Bills, which propose a 42 percent quota for BCs, along with existing reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, were sent to the Governor in March and subsequently forwarded to the President of India for approval.
In response to the perceived delay, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) has announced a "Chalo Delhi" protest. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, along with his ministers, MPs, and other party leaders, is scheduled to camp in Delhi from August 5-7. The protest includes a demonstration at Jantar Mantar and a planned meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to urge her to approve the pending bills.
However, the opposition is not letting the Congress off the hook. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have accused the Congress government of political manoeuvering and a lack of sincerity.
BRS MLC K Kavitha has announced a 72-hour hunger strike from August 4-6, demanding the early implementation of the 42 percent BC quota, under the aegis of Telangana Jagruti. She criticised both the Congress and the BJP for delaying the bill and questioned the state government's commitment, stating that it has not taken concrete steps to pressure the Centre.
Kavitha also pointed out that the government has not pursued legal action, citing the example of Tamil Nadu, which successfully fought for higher reservation through legal means.
The BRS is holding its own party-led demonstrations. BRS working president KT Rama Rao and other party leaders have held meetings with the party's BC leaders and have accused the Congress government of a "new drama" to mislead the BC communities. They argue that the Congress has been insincere in its efforts and that the state government is trying to evade responsibility by blaming the Centre.
The BJP, on the other hand, is vehemently opposing the Congress's proposal, particularly the inclusion of a 10 percent Muslim quota within the 42 percent BC reservation.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, addressing a protest organised by the BJP OBC Morcha, alleged that the Congress's plan would only leave BCs with a 32 percent quota and that it is an act of appeasement politics for electoral gain. He demanded that the Congress government scrap the religion-based reservation for Muslims and provide a full 42 percent quota exclusively for BCs.
The BJP has also accused the Congress of trying to "defame the BJP and the Centre" by staging protests in Delhi to cover up its own failures.
