Scrap 4 pc Muslim quota: BJP

Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Floor Leader in the State Assembly G Kishan Reddy demanded that the State government scrap the four per cent religious-based reservations to Muslims in Telangana, in order to provide reservations to STs as per the constitutional provisions.

Addressing media here on Thursday, he said the High Court had scrapped the attempts by the earlier Congress government in the State to provide five per cent reservations to the Muslims. The courts had scrapped such reservations citing religious-based reservations were not feasible. However, the State government had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court.

In turn, this has adversely affected the SC and STs for not able to provide reservations on the population basis as per the constitutional provisions, he pointed out. It was against this backdrop, he asked the State government to withdraw the appeal pending before the Apex Court. This was to facilitate that the State government provide its constitutional obligations by providing reservations for SC and STs as per the constitution.

However, the government had been delaying the same for the last three years. Krishna Reddy said it was against this backdrop that MRPS chief Manda Krishna Madiga had been raising the issue of categorisation of SC reservations, as promised by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) during 2014 general elections. However, the State government had been harbouring vengeance against him and got him arrested twice in a week.

Krishna Madiga had obtained bail from the court in case of his earlier arrest. However, he was rearrested from his office for sitting on a fast to highlight the demand for categorisation of SC reservations. The BJP MLA demanded the immediate release of the MRPS leader, and said, “The sole objective of the State government is to suppress the MRPS movement and its leader, for asking to deliver on its electoral promise.” Terming the democratic rights of the people have been under the surveillance of the eagle eyes of the

police, the BJP leader said, Dharna Chowk and Nizam College grounds were kept away from holding meetings by all and to stage protests. The police highhandedness became a regular feature in arresting farmers in Khammam and Mallanna Sagar, students of Osmania University, Dalits in Nerella and tribal people in Adilabad.

Kishan Reddy said “Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announces in the State Assembly that he would stage dharna and protests at Delhi against the Centre. But, the same rights are denied to the people of the State.” He said it is high time for people’s organisations and political parties to mount a collective fight against the dictatorial rule of the TRS in the State.