He challenged the BJP to first revoke Muslim reservations in BJP-ruled states before accusing Telangana’s Congress government of religious bias
Published Jul 24, 2025 | 7:38 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 24, 2025 | 7:38 AM
Revanth Reddy accuses BJP of adopting double standards in regard to BC reservation bills
Synopsis: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy accused the BJP of double standards for backing 42% BC reservations in the state Assembly but opposing Muslim inclusion in Parliament. Calling it political opportunism, he said the BJP is shirking responsibility. He cited urgency due to the Telangana High Court’s directive to finalise BC quotas and conduct local body polls by September 2025
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has accused the BJP of double standards—supporting the bills in the Telangana Assembly, which provided 42 percent reservations to BCs in education and employment, and now insisting that Muslims should be excluded from reservation if the bills are to be passed in the Lok Sabha.
Speaking to reporters at his official residence in Delhi, he said it was strange that the BJP, after supporting the two bills in the Assembly, is now saying that since it was the Congress which promised 42 percent reservations, it was its funeral and that the BJP should not be bothered. He called this opportunism and an attempt to run away from their responsibility in passing the bills in Parliament and making them part of the Indian Constitution.
He said he was in a hurry to provide reservations since the Telangana High Court has mandated the completion of the finalization of BC reservations in local bodies by the end of July and the completion of local body elections by the end of September 2025.
He expressed strong displeasure with the Central government for delaying the approval of two bills passed by the Telangana Legislative Assembly, introducing them in Parliament, and after passing them, including them in the Ninth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which insulates the reservations from judicial review.
The Chief Minister accused the Centre of stalling progress and urged it to act swiftly to approve these bills. He stated that on Thursday morning, 24 July, he would meet Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi and Rajya Sabha Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge to urge them to bring pressure on the NDA to approve the bills in Parliament.
In the evening, he said he would brief Congress MPs from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the issue, explaining Telangana’s commitment to securing the passage of the bills during the ongoing Parliament session. He noted that the bills had received support from multiple parties in the Telangana Assembly, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Communist Party of India (CPI), and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
He slammed Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay for branding the coverage of 10 percent of the BC population under reservations as an excuse to block the enhanced BC quota in Telangana. He pointed out that Muslim reservations are implemented in states like Gujarat (PM Modi’s home state), Uttar Pradesh (represented by Modi in Parliament), and Maharashtra (home to the RSS headquarters).
He demanded that the BJP first announce the cancellation of Muslim reservations in these states before accusing the Congress government in Telangana of providing reservations based on religion. He also referenced Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in an interview that Muslim reservations would continue in Gujarat, questioning whether the BJP would suspend him for this stance.
He said the Telangana BJP was trying to play divisive politics by demanding that Muslims should be excluded from the 42 percent reservations, as 10 percent is proposed for them in the current bills. The newly appointed BJP state president N Ramchander Rao has been saying that his party would support the bill only if Muslims are excluded. Revanth Reddy argued that reservations were given to Muslims based on their backwardness, not religion.
The Chief Minister said that Telangana’s Social, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste (SEEEPC) survey, initiated on 4 February 2024 and completed by 4 February 2025 was a pioneering work. The survey, which collected data from 3.55 crore individuals, was approved by the Telangana Legislative Assembly. He declared 4 February as “Social Justice Day” in Telangana to commemorate this achievement.
The survey revealed that the state’s population comprises 56.4 percent BCs, 17.45 percent Scheduled Castes (SCs), 10.08 percent Scheduled Tribes (STs), 10.09 percent upper castes, and 3.09 percent individuals who did not disclose their caste, marking a new trend in the state.
The survey data was reviewed by an independent expert advisory committee, which submitted its report to the state government. Revanth Reddy announced that the report would be discussed in the Cabinet and presented in the Legislative Assembly. However, he clarified that individual details from the survey would not be disclosed, as this would violate the Personal Data Privacy Act.
He asserted that Telangana’s caste survey serves as a role model for the country. He pointed out that the BJP-led Central government, which had submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court promising a caste census, followed Telangana’s lead by issuing a gazette notification for a national caste census. He urged the Centre to adopt Telangana’s roadmap for conducting a nationwide caste census. He also recalled that during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi had promised a caste census if Congress came to power—a commitment fulfilled by Telangana’s Congress government upon assuming office.
He claimed that just as the Congress compelled the BJP government to repeal the controversial farm laws, it has also forced the Centre to adopt Telangana’s approach to the caste census, for which the Centre had already given instructions along with the population census. Reddy said that the introduction of 10 percent reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) has effectively removed the 50 percent reservation cap, paving the way for enhanced BC reservations.
On the issue of filling the Vice-President’s post, Reddy called the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar unfortunate and demanded that the position be filled with a leader from Telangana. He slammed the BJP for sidelining Telugu leader Venkaiah Naidu, who was not elevated to President after serving as Vice-President, and for replacing BC leader Bandi Sanjay with G. Kishan Reddy and later N. Ramachander Rao as BJP state president.
Reddy also noted that BC leader Dattatreya, whose tenure as Governor has ended, was overlooked for higher roles. He suggested that appointing Dattatreya as Vice-President would rectify the injustice done to BC leaders. However, Reddy clarified that the final decision on whom the Congress should support rests with the leadership, but he would advocate for Dattatreya if given the opportunity.
To a question, he said the state government was considering doing away with the legislative requirement that one should not have more than two children to be eligible to contest in local body elections.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
