HYDERABAD: Extending support for the Women’s Reservation Bill, BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday demanded that delimitation of seats should not be linked to the women’s quota and must be taken up only after the completion of the Census.
Speaking to reporters and party workers here on Wednesday, Rama Rao said that the BRS would support delimitation as long as it did not cause injustice to southern states. If injustice was done, the party would oppose it and even launch agitations, he warned the Union government.
He also dismissed the “hybrid” approach of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for the delimitation process. He termed Revanth a “hybrid” chief minister, alleging a lack of consistency in his politics. “Revanth Reddy would act as a representative of the Congress in the morning and align with the BJP in the evening,” he said, adding that such a “hybrid” model was reflected in governance.
He recalled that the BRS government had adopted unanimous resolutions in both the Legislative Assembly and Council in favour of reservations for women in legislative bodies. He said the party had implemented 50% reservation for women in local bodies and 33% reservation in market committee appointments.
Rama Rao, however, opposed linking the Bill with delimitation, questioning why a “simple measure” was being complicated by the Union government. He demanded immediate implementation of reservations for women, noting that Telangana has 119 Assembly seats and urging that quotas be applied to these segments.
Rama Rao accused the chief minister of adopting dual standards on delimitation, stating that Revanth did not consult MLAs on the trifurcation of the GHMC.
He added that having one approach for oneself and another for others was unacceptable, and said that, as a national party, the Congress must speak with clarity and responsibility without making contradictory statements.
Rama Rao said that while Union government leaders had spoken about a possible 50% increase in seats, there was no mention of this in the Bill. He recalled that the BRS had opposed delimitation based on population in 2022–23, arguing that it would disadvantage southern states.
Referring to the last delimitation carried out in 1971 based on the then Census, he said southern states had since implemented family planning programmes effectively. He questioned whether they would now be penalised for those efforts. Stating that southern states currently account for about 24% representation in the Lok Sabha, the BRS leader demanded that this share be maintained without deviation. Any attempt to alter it would face strong resistance, he said.
Rama Rao warned that ignoring the concerns of southern states could have serious consequences. “You are sitting on a powder keg; if you tamper with the representation of southern states, it will trigger a strong backlash,” he said, adding that the BRS would work with other political parties to oppose such moves.
He urged the Union government to focus on governance and public welfare alongside political considerations.