HYDERABAD: Telangana Rakshana Sena chief Kalvakuntla Kavitha has demanded a separate Other Backward Classes (OBC) column with a unique code for every caste in the upcoming national census, warning that her party would block census operations in Telangana if the demand was not met.
Addressing a meeting organised by the All India OBC Students Association and the Telangana BC Rights Forum at Bagh Lingampally, Hyderabad, she urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to pass a resolution in the Assembly seeking the separate column. She also threatened to mobilise women and youth to march to Delhi against the Union government.
Kavitha alleged that the BJP-led Union government was weakening reservations and called for a joint movement by Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs to protect affirmative action.
The Hyderabad OBC Declaration adopted nine resolutions, including a nationwide caste census, representation for OBCs in education, employment and politics in proportion to their population, and 50% reservation for Backward Classes. It also called for removing the 50% reservation ceiling, filling backlog vacancies in reserved categories, ensuring representation in universities, extending reservations to the private sector and implementing 42% BC reservation in Telangana and 27% in Madhya Pradesh.
Delhi University professor Suraj Mandal alleged that OBCs were being denied adequate representation, citing the absence of OBCs among Supreme Court judges and senior government officials. He also referred to court challenges to local body reservations and the demand for 42% BC reservation in Telangana.
OBC leaders from several states, including Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, backed the declaration and called for nationwide mobilisation to secure reservation rights.