HYDERABAD, February 3: MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha has criticised the Congress government over discrepancies in the BC (Backward Classes) caste census, calling it “incorrect.” She demanded that the Telangana Assembly introduce a bill to increase BC reservations for local elections, based on more accurate data.
Kavitha pointed out that a comprehensive survey conducted by former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in 2014 revealed that the BC population in the state was around 50 to 52%. This was supported by findings showing 1.03 crore households and a population of 3.68 crore. However, the Congress government presented the BC population as only 46.2%, a figure Kavitha described as misleading.
The MLC urged CM Revanth Reddy to publicly accept the true census data and ensure a bill for increasing BC reservations is passed in the Assembly. She also demanded that elections be held only after the reservations are increased.
Kavitha alleged that the Congress party had used similar tactics in Bihar and Karnataka and was now attempting to do the same in Telangana. She also highlighted a discrepancy of 21 lakh in the BC population figures between the Sakala Janula Survey and the current census.
According to her, the current survey shows an inflated number of OBCs, while the BC, SC (Scheduled Castes), and ST (Scheduled Tribes) populations appear to have decreased.
The MLC called for transparency regarding the government’s actions, questioning the rationale behind the changes in the census data and urging that caste-related issues, especially those concerning BC and SC categorisation, be handled without political interference.
