BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha has demanded that local body elections should be held only after clarity is given on the 42 percent BC reservation, as assured by the Congress during the Assembly elections last year. She said that on the same issue, on January 3 next year, on the occasion of Savitribai Phule Jayanti, a Maha Dharna will be organized at Indira Park along with BC organizations.
After a meeting with over 40 BC organisations at her residence on Friday, Kavitha criticised the Congress government for its failure to deliver on its promises. She warned that they will not allow the Congress government to hold local bodies polls without giving clarity on BC reservations and will take up agitations at mandal level.
She recalled that the Kamareddy BC Declaration clearly stated that 42 percent reservation would be given to BCs in local body elections. However, she deplored that no clarity has been provided on this commitment till date. She raised doubts about the Congress party’s calculations over the BC population in Telangana, pointing out that BCs constitute more than half of the population.
“How did the Congress arrive at the figure of 42 percent? If elections are held without fulfilling this promise, there will be severe repercussions,” she warned. Demanding the deferment of local body elections until the BC Dedicated Commission report is released, Kavitha stressed the need for a caste census at the national level.
Warning that there will be serious consequences if elections are held without providing 42 percent reservation, she made it clear that elections should be considered only after the BC Dedicated Commission submits its report and the BC population is revealed.
Until then, Kavitha said that the government should not think about local body elections. She also demanded that the BJP government at the Center should conduct a caste census in the population census. Annually, she lamented that the Congress government has broken its promise of allocating Rs. 20,000 crores in the budget for BCs.