Telangana Congress leaders will visit Delhi from August 5th to 7th to meet President Droupadi Murmu over the implementation of the 42 per cent OBC reservation in local bodies, said Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar. Speaking to the media, he said that under the leadership of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the party’s MLAs and MLCs would meet the President to press for the reservation’s implementation.
He said that Congress leaders had already approached President Murmu on 30 March after the Governor’s approval but had not received any update so far.
“Regarding the 42 per cent OBC reservation in local bodies, we went to the President on March 30 after the approval of the Governor. We still haven’t heard anything about it. MLAs, MPs and MLCs together are going to Delhi to meet the President,” he said.
Prabhakar also urged Telangana BJP MPs to join them in Delhi to support the demand, emphasising that politics should not come in the way of OBC welfare.
“I am also asking Telangana BJP to come with us to Delhi. There are five OBC MPs in the BJP. I request them that there is no need to do politics. For the first time in history, the Congress government, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, is moving forward to bring 42 per cent reservation in local bodies. OBC organisations have been fighting for the welfare of OBCs in Telangana for years. I request intellectuals also to come to Delhi and meet the President,” he said.
When asked about the timing of the move ahead of local body elections in Telangana, Prabhakar said the government had ensured it had robust data to withstand any legal scrutiny.
“This is not a thing to feed from a spoon, we have to ensure the decision stands in the court. In the Indira Sahani case, the court asked for empirical data. We employed one lakh people for a year and collected data from units of 150 houses each. Today, the Telangana government has the empirical data and report from an independent committee,” he told the media.
He added that the bill was created on 4 February, ordered on 17 February and sent by the Governor to Delhi on 30 February. “We are ready, you implement it. From the Kamareddy declaration to today’s cabinet, we haven’t deviated. We will implement it, the Telangana public trusts us,” he said.
On 25 July, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy unveiled the ‘Telangana Socio-Economic Survey – Model and Methodology’ at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi and urged Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to raise the issue in Parliament.
Following the survey, the Telangana government passed two reservation bills — one for education and employment and another for political representation — providing for 42 per cent reservation for OBCs.
These bills have been pending before the President for three months, prompting Reddy to appeal to the Congress leadership to push for their passage.
“We ask Rahul Gandhi ji and Kharge ji to raise this in Parliament, put forward motions, and take the lead. We will protest in the streets if needed,” he said.
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