NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday criticised Telangana CM Revanth Reddy for his remark on PM Modi’s caste.
The Telangana chief minister had claimed that PM Modi did not belong to the backward classes at the time he was born, which the BJP criticised calling it an “irresponsible” comment.
Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy hit out at the Reddy’s comments, saying the CM “should make statements based on facts”.
“How can he (Revanth Reddy) speak so irresponsibly? If you make a statement, it should be based on facts,” said Kishan Reddy, who is also the president of the Telangana BJP told news agency PTI.
Revanth Reddy, speaking at a Congress event on Friday, also accused PM Modi of being “anti-backward class in mentality.” The CM claimed Modi’s caste was classified as a “forward caste” before he became Gujarat Chief Minister.
Retorting to the CM’s claim, G Kishan Reddy asserted that the BJP has taken several measures for the welfare of backward classes. He said the BC Commission was granted constitutional status after Modi became Prime Minister, not during previous Congress regimes.
The CM was speaking after a PowerPoint presentation on the govt’s caste survey and SC categorisation exercise in the state.
Revanth said the BJP was trying to portray the Congress government’s caste survey in Telangana as faulty as otherwise the Modi govt would be under pressure to conduct it in the entire country and also amend the Constitution to enhance BC reservations.
He also asked how the BRS and BJP could say the survey statistics were wrong when there was no official statistic available before the Congress’ survey.
“We did the survey scientifically and 96.9 per cent of population in Telangana gave details voluntarily. The survey forms were filled up or signed by the family member who gave details. Now, we have started a second round of survey to give an opportunity to the remaining 3.1 per cent,” Revanth said.
“It doesn’t matter even if I end up as the last chief minister from the Reddy community. As a disciplined party worker and CM, I took up the caste survey to keep the promise given by our leader Rahul Gandhi. This is my commitment. The caste census was not done for my benefit or my position. The caste survey is accurate and there are no faults in its statistics. I am ready to remain an activist to uphold the ideals of our leader Rahul Gandhi. If the BCs fall prey to opposition campaigns, they will lose forever,” the CM said.