Hyderabad: The ruling Congress will give Backward Classes (BC) group 42 percent reservations in the coming Telangana local body elections even if the ordinance passed by the government is not accepted by the President of India.
In view of the upcoming Telangana local body elections (likely to be held by September), the Congress government here promised to reserve 42 percent of the seats for Backwards Classes (BC) and passed the Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Ordinance. It was pending approval from Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, who had sent it to the President for approval.
However, with the state high court ordering the Telangana court to hold elections by the end of September, time is running out. “We have to wait and watch. Mostly it will not happen but from the party’s side we will provide BCs the said percentage of seats. With the Congress president being a Goud and a BC member, it will make a big difference,” said a senior Congress leader.
MLC Mahesh Kumar Goud, and senior Congress party member, is currently the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president. Incumbent chief minister Revanth Reddy held the position before him, and Kumar’s appointment is an attempt by the ruling party to bring all BC communities to its side.
However, it is to be seen if that happens. While BCs overall occupy about 47 percent of Telangana’s population, they are split among many communities, including Gouds, Yadavs, Padmashalis, and Mudiraj. Even the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government had promised 50 percent reservation in the local body elections, but the plan did not go through.
For the upcoming Telangana local body polls, BJP state president Ram Chander Rao has also promised to give 42 percent of seats to BC candidates.
“There is no consolidated BC vote currently. The Congress here is trying to get them all under one umbrella to create a vote bank. As of now, no one from the community is loyal to a party and is split. Among Backward Classes, there are several communities and classifications. Our party president is a Goud from the BC community and this can work to our advantage. But, we are also trying to create a bigger voter base,” the Congress leader from Hyderabad told Siasat.com.
