With criticism coming in from BRS and BJP, Congress appears to be skating on thin ice as till date the 42% reservation is still a promise.
Published Sep 10, 2025 | 2:21 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 10, 2025 | 2:21 PM
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. Credit: x.com/revanth_anumula
Synopsis: Facing a pincer attack from both BRS and BJP, Congress is scrambling to appear strong. The Kamareddy gathering is expected to attract a large crowd, as the party markets its “achievement” of a 42 percent reservation promise—while quietly blaming the BJP for allegedly stalling progress.
The Telangana Congress is gearing up for its public meeting in Kamareddy on 15 September, billed as a “victory celebration” for the “implementation” of its Backward Classes (BC) declaration.
This event is part of Congress’ outreach to BC voters—an electorate coveted by all parties. For Congress, the upcoming local body elections are a crucial test of its political heft.
Facing a pincer attack from both BRS and BJP, Congress is scrambling to appear strong. The Kamareddy gathering is expected to attract a large crowd, as the party markets its “achievement” of a 42 percent reservation promise—while quietly blaming the BJP for allegedly stalling progress.
The BRS is not standing down. KT Rama Rao (KTR), the party’s working president, cut through the hype.
“In the Congress’ dictionary, lies are achievements, half-truths are calls for celebrations and declarations are replaced with deceit,” he said, accusing the ruling party of flaunting unkept promises.
KTR further added: “The Revanth Reddy government spends more on advertising the Kamareddy Declaration than on delivering it. This is the Telangana Congress model—promises without performance, celebrations without substance.”
The BJP is also taking aim. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy accused Congress of “robbing” BCs of their rightful reservation share by injecting a 10 percent Muslim quota into the 42 percent total, calling it a desperate vote bank ploy.
“Withdraw Muslim quota, and I will personally ensure the Centre approves the 42 percent BC reservation,” he declared, stressing that the BJP would support the bills if they were devoid of religion-based quota.
The Telangana government’s efforts to enhance Backward Classes (BC) reservations to 42 percent—fulfilling a key poll promise from the 2023 ‘Kamareddy Declaration’— involved several legislative steps.
The “two BC reservation bills” are meant for addressing reservations in education, employment, and local bodies. They were introduced and passed unanimously in the Legislative Assembly during its Budget session on 17 March, 2025.
The Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and the Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Bill, 2025 – This enhances BC reservations to 42 percent in education and state government jobs (alongside 15 percent for SCs and 10 percent for STs, totaling over the 50 percent Supreme Court cap).
The Telangana Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Rural and Urban Local Bodies) Bill, 2025 – This provides 42 percent BC quota in panchayats and municipalities (up from 23 percent).
The bills were tabled in the Assembly following a caste survey revealing BCs at 56.36 percent of the population. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy described the move as fulfilling Rahul Gandhi’s promise. They were passed by voice vote after brief debate.
These bills were forwarded to the Governor, who sent them to the President for assent on April 9, 2025, due to exceeding the 50 percent cap (totaling 67 percent) which are still awaiting Presidential assent for inclusion in the Ninth Schedule.
To address the delay in Presidential approval and comply with the Telangana High Court’s directive for local body elections by September 30, 2025, the government passed amendments specifically for local body implementation on 31 August, 2025. They were The Telangana Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Telangana Panchayat Raj (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025.
They replaced earlier ordinance and amend 2018/2019 laws to remove the 50 percent cap, enabling 42 percent BC quota in urban/rural local bodies. They were passed by voice vote after debate and later sent for Governor-Presidential assent, alongside the earlier bills.
In a state where BCs make up for more than half the population, the rally could sway electoral equations. But with fierce criticism from BRS and BJP, the Congress appears to be skating on thin ice as till date the 42 percent reservation is still a promise, regardless of who is to blame for this.
Whether the Kamareddy “celebration” will be seen by BC voters as demonstration of the sincerity of the Congress’ intention or simply as – “thunder without rain” – remains to be seen.
(Edited by Amit Vasudev)
