Hyderabad: Heated arguments erupted in the Telangana assembly on Tuesday during a discussion on the caste survey and SC categorisation reports. BJP legislator Payal Shankar criticised the govt, claiming that the state’s population had decreased by 98 lakh based on the Congress govt’s own survey data. He also questioned the term ‘Muslim BCs’, arguing that it could jeopardise the survey’s legal standing.
Shankar accused the ruling Congress of neglecting its promise of 42% reservations for BCs and shifting responsibility to the central govt for a constitutional amendment. He criticised the incomplete nature of the caste census, stating that it lacked comprehensive participation and contained numerous errors. “Rahul Gandhi spoke brilliantly on the caste census in the Lok Sabha and I was very happy to hear his comments. However, his comments are not in line with the performance of the Congress govt in Telangana,” he said.
Chief minister A Revanth Reddy intervened, accusing Shankar of being misled by the BRS and quoting false data to undermine the govt’s legitimate caste survey. Ministers, D Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar, also defended the survey, calling out the BJP’s misinformation. Sridhar Babu urged that such statistics should not be taken seriously, emphasising the Congress party’s commitment to BC welfare.
