HYDERABAD: Reiterating his party’s demand that BJP MPs, especially Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and MoS Bandi Sanjay, exert pressure on the Centre to secure 42% reservation for BCs in the state, TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud on Thursday asserted that the Congress government would implement the enhanced quota within 24 hours of the Union government backing it.
Mahesh, along with ministers Konda Surekha and Ponnam Prabhakar, MLAs and MPs, met former AICC presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as well as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in the Central Hall of Parliament. The delegation explained the passage of the BC Reservation Bill in recent Assembly sessions and also informed them about the BC Dharna organised in Delhi on Wednesday.
Sonia advised the party leaders to work with greater dedication and expressed happiness that the people of Telangana were with the Congress and that welfare schemes for the poor were being implemented.
During the presser, Mahesh expressed hope that two more BC leaders might be accommodated in the Cabinet and asserted that only the Congress can ensure social justice in the country. He said Congress leaders were ready to meet the prime minister if BJP MPs secure an appointment and that BC reservations should not be politicised.
Mahesh also accused Sanjay of misleading the public by claiming that the state government had the authority to increase reservations. “I challenge Bandi Sanjay to get a favourable announcement from the Centre. If he can get this, the Congress government would implement it within 24 hours,” the TPCC chief said at a presser in New Delhi.
He recalled that Muslims received reservations under the BC quota, a policy also implemented in Gujarat under the then chief minister and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The TPCC chief pointed out that the party never stated that the Cabinet expansion would take place on Ugadi. “The party high command alone would make a decision soon on filling Cabinet vacancies,” he stated.
Mahesh accused BJP MPs and leaders of ignoring the BC Dharna, where 18 BC associations gathered at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, and questioned their absence from the event.