HYDERABAD: Union Coal & Mines Minister and BJP state president G Kishan Reddy on Thursday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the historic decision to include caste in the upcoming national census. He hailed the move as a “historic step” towards positive change in the country.
The Union minister, however, criticised the opposition, particularly the Congress, for playing politics with Narendra Modi’s decision. He accused the Congress of hatching a conspiracy regarding BC reservations. He alleged that the Congress had committed a grave mistake by including Muslims under the BCs, labelling it a “deliberate misstep.”
He criticised the Congress-led Telangana government, saying it was unfair as injustice was meted out to BCs with the inclusion of Muslims under the BC category.
He lashed out at Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for his suggestion that India should follow the Telangana model in conducting a caste census, saying that it was a wrong model to replicate and that the Centre would not need such a model.
Kishan slammed the Congress for consistently making flawed decisions, including opposing presidential candidates from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
He credited the Modi government with addressing long-pending issues such as the sub-categorisation of SCs and said it was only after the Centre clarified its stance to the Supreme Court that the apex court delivered the judgment on sub-categorisation.
Commitment to justice
He said the inclusion of caste in the national census vindicated the Modi government’s commitment to justice and stated that it was only after Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014 that the BC Commission was granted constitutional status.
The Union minister also said that it was Modi who introduced reforms aimed at benefiting economically weaker sections across all communities. Kishan said the Centre’s commitment to women empowerment was vindicated when it provided 33 per cent reservations for women and abolished triple talaq, which ensured justice to Muslim women.
Centre’s every decision in national interest
Kishan reiterated that every decision taken by the BJP-led government at the Centre was in the national interest. “Even the caste census decision was made by the Centre for the welfare of the people, not because Rahul Gandhi had made the demand,” he said.