"Congress forgotten 42 per cent reservation promise to Backward Classes," says BRS leader K Kavitha

Kavitha said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is in Hyderabad, meeting village-level party heads to prepare for local body elections.

She also urged Congress leaders to stand in support of the BCs in the Rajya Sabha.

Speaking to ANI, K Kavitha said, "Malikarjun Kharge is in Hyderabad. He's meeting village-level Congress party presidents and preparing them for the local body elections. But the Congress party has conveniently forgotten about the promise that they made to the BCs of Telangana about giving 42 per cent reservation to them. We demand that the government here should not hold the local body elections till then. I request Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi to raise this issue in the Rajya Sabha, Rahul and Priyanka to stand in support of the BCs in Telangana."

Earlier in March, the Congress-led Telangana government had passed two bills, The Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (reservation of seats in educational institutions and of appointments or posts in services under the State) Bill 2025 and The Telangana Backward Classes (Reservation of seats in Rural and Urban Local Bodies) Bill 2025. Both the bills aim to give 42 per cent reservation to Backwards Classes, 15 pc to Scheduled Castes, and 10 pc to Scheduled Tribes in various educational institutions, local bodies, and in government jobs.

The bills have been passed in both the Telangana Assembly and the Legislative Council, and is awaiting approval from the Centre.

Just a day after the bills were passed, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said that the "revolutionary" promise of 42 per cent reservation would not only break the limit of 49 per cent reservation but also empower long-oppressed communities.

CM Reddy said in a post on X, "The revolutionary promise of 42 per cent reservations for Backward Castes not only finally hopes to end the legal glass-ceiling of 49% on quotas but also moves towards empowering the long-oppressed communities' resources & opportunities in proportion to their percentage in the population." (ANI)