Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his ‘Jana Garjana Sabha’ in Suryapet on Friday, lashed out at Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of cheating people from the weaker sections and in a surprise move he announced that the BJP would make a leader from the backward classes, the chief minister of Telangana if the party is elected to power in the state.
Speaking at the election rally, Shah asserted that the ruling BRS government had deceived dalits, tribals, and the OBCs for nearly a decade. “The BRS is anti-poor and anti-weaker sections, as it has failed to fulfill its promises made for their uplift, including distribution of three acres of land for each Dalit family,” he said.
బీజేపీని ఆశీర్వదించాలని తెలంగాణ ప్రజలకు విజ్ఞప్తి చేస్తున్నాను, వెనుకబడిన వర్గానికి చెందిన వ్యక్తిని రాష్ట్రానికి ముఖ్యమంత్రిగా ఇస్తామని హామీ ఇస్తున్నాం.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) October 27, 2023
I appeal to the people of Telangana to bless the BJP and we promise to give the state a CM from the backward class. pic.twitter.com/V3xqgSHPjC
His statement comes at a time when the Congress and several other opposition parties are emphasizing the need for a caste census in the context of OBC representation as a key political strategy to challenge the BJP.
Presently, Telangana state has 134 backward class groups, which are altogether estimated to account for 52% of the state’s population.
A backward class leader has never been the CM of even undivided Andhra Pradesh. Since Telangana was formed in 2014, K Chandrashekar, who belongs to the forward Velama community, has been its CM.
Amit Shah recalled that BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao promised to make a Dalit the state’s chief minister if his party was voted to power in 2014. “He conveniently ignored his promise. He is now trying to project his son KT Rama Rao as his successor,” he said.
“The BRS has proved that it is anti-Dalit. KCR promised a Dalit CM, what happened?” Shah further asserted.
The Union Home Minister said the Congress and the BRS were political parties running with a single objective; the Congress wanted to make Rahul Gandhi the country’s Prime Minister and the BRS’s KCR wanted to make his son KTR the chief minister. “The BJP is the only party which strives for the welfare of the people and the development of the nation,” he said.
Shah said the BJP was committed to the development of tribals. “It was the Narendra Modi government at the Centre which sanctioned a central university for tribals in the name of tribal deities Sammakka and Saralamma,” he said
The BJP Telangana OBC pitch
Currently, BJP has two strong backward-class leaders in Telangana, Bandi Sanjay Kumar who hails from the powerful Munneru Kapu community (a sub-sect of the Kapu community), and Etela Rajender, who belongs to the Mudiraj group an equally dominant sect having a population of 60-lakh they are spread over much of North Telangana and parts of Hyderabad. Both leaders have gained prominence by confronting KCR and the ruling BRS government.
BJP has fielded Bandi Sanjay Kumar from the Karimnagar Assembly seat, though he had lost from the constituency in 2018, he charged back a year later, winning the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat. Kumar is seen as having a strong hold on not only the 50-lakh-strong Munneru Kapu community but other BC communities as well.
Etela Rajender, the party’s state election committee head, has been fielded from Gajwel besides his present seat of Huzurabad. This is significant as KCR is contesting from Gajwel, besides the Kamareddy seat. Rajender was once seen as second in command in the BRS, before he resigned from the party in June 2021 after KCR sacked him as a minister over allegations of land grabbing.
Rajender was a four-time MLA with the BRS from Huzurabad.In the by-poll from the seat, he won on a BJP ticket despite the BRS going all out to defeat him.
After Amit Shah’s announcement, people are also eyeing another backward class leader Dharmapuri Arvind, the Lok Sabha BJP MP from Nizamabad, who won by 70,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections defeating KCR’s daughter K Kavitha.
Shah further said in Suryapet, that the Centre has announced an update of terms of conditions of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal to do justice to Telangana in Krishna water sharing. “We have also taken steps to create a National Turmeric Board to help Telangana farmers. We are providing safe drinking water to every household under the Jal Jeevan Mission,”
