Hyderabad: Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) president Prakash Ambedkar on Sunday, November 12, raised questions about the Congress party’s selective poll promise to Dalits in Telangana and not in other states.
“The Congress in order to woo Dalit votes in Telangana announced Rs 12 lakh financial assistance (without stating whether it is non-refundable or refundable monetary help) per beneficiary family. But the same announcement or promise was not extended to Dalits in the other states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh — going into the elections or in the states — Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh — where they presently govern? It is too late for the Congress to announce any promise in Rajasthan, MP, and Chhattisgarh; the lack of such a policy promise might hurt them. If the Congress needs to salvage its image, it should immediately roll out a similar policy plan in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh,” he said in a post on X.
The Congress party’s guarantees in Telangana, besides Rs 12 lakh financial assistance, include increasing SC and ST reservations to 18% and 12%, respectively.
Also, reservations in government jobs, the establishment of new Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs), the creation of SC corporations, and financial assistance of Rs 6 lakh to each family for constructing a house are part of its poll guarantees.
The state is home to 18.22 lakh Dalit families, roughly 27% of the population, with Madigas and Malas being the major sub-castes.
Telangana is going to the polls on November 30.
