The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) recently slammed the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of putting on a political show regarding the crucial issue of increasing reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in local governance, educational institutions, and job sectors. The party asserted that if both major national parties were truly committed, they could easily amend the Constitution to bring about this change.
Former Minister and senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao emphasized on Saturday that with the BJP holding 240 seats and the Congress 99 seats in the Lok Sabha, together they possess more than enough power to pass a bill. He argued that no other party could possibly obstruct such a joint effort. Rao further alleged that by resorting to street protests instead of collaborating in Parliament to amend the Constitution and include quota enhancements in Schedule IX, both parties were disrespecting the Backward Classes.
Rao highlighted that while past Congress governments conducted the Census six times, they never included a caste-wise count to ascertain the precise BC population. Conversely, BJP governments since 2014 have consistently delayed the Census for the past five years.
He also reminded that it was K. Chandrasekhar Rao who initially called for a dedicated ministry for BCs at the Centre. The BRS government in Telangana had even passed two resolutions since 2014 advocating for this, but their appeals went unheeded.
Harish Rao concluded by stating that both the Congress and BJP seem more interested in scoring political points over the BC quota rather than genuinely working towards its enhancement. He urged them to abandon these “political dramas” and genuinely pursue the necessary constitutional amendments in Parliament to increase BC reservations.