Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy here on Saturday accused the BJP of spreading false propaganda about caste census as it does not want to conduct census in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview in 2023 said that Muslims in Gujarat were benefiting from the OBC category. But Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar was saying that Muslims were included in the BCs, he said while speaking at a meeting with BC leaders at Praja Bhavan here.
“I challenge former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), Sanjay and Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy to prove which house in which block was wrong done during the caste census. If anyone wants to discuss BC reservations in the country in the future, then they have to discuss Telangana and Revanth Reddy,” he said, adding that history would not forgive if this opportunity was missed.
Stating that he was not speaking with political ignorance, he said he was speaking strictly adhering to instructions given by his leader. His duty is to follow the leader’s orders. Requesting the people not to believe the false information spread by Opposition parties, Revanth Reddy alleged that Modi was not taking up the census process fearing that he would face negative impact politically.
Both Kishan Reddy and Sanjay were spreading false propaganda on BCs issue fearing that they will lose their posts. “It is the responsibility of everyone to counter the false propaganda of the Opposition parties. We conducted the caste census through a rigorous process and it is 100 per cent accurate and we must take it to the people,” he said.
Revanth Reddy further stated, “My responsibility is completed with the completion of the process. It is your responsibility to take this to the next level and take it forward until it reaches its destination. I challenge the BJP to include caste census in the census to prove whose calculation is wrong.”
“We are adopting a resolution at the meeting to include caste census in the census,” he said, asking the BCs to hold meetings to display unity and make resolutions by March 10 to derive advantage politically apart from in education and jobs,” Revanth Reddy said.
“For the weaker sections, the caste census report is a Bible, Bhagavad Gita and Quran,” he explained. Recalling the statement of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi that the caste census is like an X-ray, Revanth Reddy said the former made it clear that caste census was necessary for social justice to be done for BCs in all sectors.
Rahul Gandhi promised during Bharat Jodo Yatra that he will conduct a caste census once the Congress comes to power in Telangana. As promised, the Congress government conducted a caste census in the State.
“We are strictly implementing the promise made by our leader. No State in the country has dared to do such a thing. But in Telangana, as per Rahul Gandhi’s promise, we conducted a caste census with everyone’s participation,” he explained.
The previous BRS government failed to reveal the details of the comprehensive family survey as it was riddled with errors. The BRS used that information for elections, not for the people. But the Congress government set up a ministerial subcommittee on caste census with good faith.
“We entrusted the task to the planning department to any avoid legal problems and managed to conduct the process effectively. We sent enumerators to every house to collect information. The collected information was computerized in the presence of the enumerator to avoid errors. Those who are saying that mistakes were made should tell us in which block and where the mistake was made,” he asked.
He alleged that the Opposition was conspiring to bring down the entire system by distorting the process. This was something BCs should take note of it. No one has ever conducted a caste census in independent India. Some were conspiring that once the BC count is known, they will ask for a share.
“We are successfully taking forward a long-standing demand of BCs,” he said. According to KCR’s survey, the BCs are only 51 per cent but in the caste census conducted by the Congress government, it is 56.33 per cent. “Now tell whether the number of BCs has decreased or increased,” he asked.