Hyderabad, Nov 26 Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao on Wednesday demanded an answer from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for reducing reservation for Backward Classes in the ensuing Gram Panchayat elections in Telangana.
He wanted to know why the Congress government reduced the reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) to 17 per cent from the earlier 24 per cent and what happened to its promise of 42 per cent reservation.
KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, took to 'X' to slam the Congress party over reducing the BC quota in Gram Panchayats.
"Hello Rahul Gandhi Ji, You spoke eloquently about Telangana caste census and claimed it as a role model for other states. Congress Govt Spent Rs 160 crore with a promise of 42 per cent reservation for the BC community. Delivered 17 per cent to the BC community (reduced from 24 per cent) in the just announced panchayat elections !!!. Any chance you could share the wisdom on wasting huge money of the exchequer in this futile exercise ?" KTR wrote.
Telangana State Election Commission on Tuesday issued a notification for Gram Panchayat elections, scheduled in three phases next month.
As per the notification, elections will be held on December 11, 14 and 17 for 12,728 posts of sarpanchs and 1,12,242 wards.
A total 1.66 crore votes in rural areas are eligible to cast their votes in these elections.
The SEC has provided 17.08 per cent reservation in Gram Panchayats for Backward Classes (BCs). Out of the total 12,735 Gram Panchayats, 2,176 have been reserved for BCs.
Among 31 districts in which elections will be held, Siddipet has the highest BC reservation at 26.772. In Bhadradri Kothagudem, no Gram Panchayat has been reserved for BCs.
The government had issued an order to provide 42 per cent reservation to BCs in local bodies, and based on this, an election notification was issued on September 29 for elections to Gram Panchayats, Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs).
However, as the High Court set aside the government order, the election notification was suspended.
The Telangana Cabinet on November 17 decided to conduct only Gram Panchayat elections in December as the Rs 3,000 crore grant that should come from the Centre will lapse by March 31, 2026.
It was announced that the decision on conducting MPTCs, ZPTCs and municipal corporations will be taken after the High Court's final orders on 42 per cent reservation for BCs.
As per the interim order of the High Court, local body elections have to be held with a 50 per cent cap on total reservation for all sections.
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