Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao has called upon the Congress cadre in the state to take up an extensive campaign on the welfare schemes of the state and central governments launched for the backward classes.
Rao organised a function at Gandhi Bhavan here on Saturday to felicitate Union petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy for introducing 27 percent reservation for backward classes in the allotment of petrol pumps across the country.
Rajya Sabha former member K Kesava Rao, MLA N Nandishwar Goud and several other Congress leaders from backward classes participated in the function.
However, Jaipal Reddy could not attend the meeting as he was busy with official work at Delhi on Saturday.
Hanumantha Rao refuted the claim of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu that his party alone could address the plight of the BCs.
He even ridiculed the felicitation functions organised at NTR Bhavan to congratulate Naidu for promising 100 seats in the 2014 polls to BCs.
Rao said it was the Congress which had introduced 27 percent reservation for EBCs and reservation in premier educational institutions like IITs and IIMs across the country.
The UPA government had been implementing several welfare schemes for the benefit of the BCs across the country but Congress leaders could not publicise them and take advantage of them, he said.
There was a need to take up an extensive campaign on the schemes implemented by the UPA government for BCs in the state to counter the claim of the TDP, he said.
Hanumantha Rao expressed his unhappiness over the absence of Union minister Jaipal Reddy who was supposed to be felicitated at the function.
The Rajya Sabha member felt that the Union petroleum minister might have kept himself away from the function due to the ongoing row between him and chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy which has garnered a lot of media attention.