Metro India News | Hyderabad 

Minister for Panchayat Raj, Rural Development, Women and Child Welfare Seethakka has denounced the unfounded accusations made by BRS working president KT Rama Rao, who claimed that the Congress government has cut BC reservations to 17 percent. She asserted that KT Rama Rao’s statements are entirely inaccurate and that the public will not be swayed by the falsehoods surrounding the topic of BC reservations.

Speaking at Praja Bhavan on Thursday, Seethakka said the Congress government had completed the caste census and reservation process with sincerity. She clarified that the then Congress government had provided 34 percent reservation to BCs in the local elections held in 2014, but in 2019, the BRS government reduced the BC reservations to 22 percent and cut the throats of BCs. She said that the BC people will never forget this injustice done to BCs.

He said the Supreme Court found the policy wrong when BRS government finalised the reservation of sarpanchs as a state unit in the 2019 local elections. Seethakka said that as per the orders of the Supreme Court, the reservation of sarpanch was considered as a mandal unit and the reservation of ward members was considered as a gram panchayat unit.

The Minister said that the 50 percent reservation limit had to be followed as per the Supreme Court guidelines. She clarified that some changes have been made in the BC reservations to ensure that the limit is not exceeded due to the high SC/ST population in some mandals. While the government is fighting for an increase in BC reservations, the Congress party is ready to allocate 42 percent of seats to BCs in local elections, Seethakka said, asking whether the BRS is ready to give 42 percent of seats to BCs.