Modi is not a born BC, says Revanth acknowledging that he was wrong only about the date

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. File | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy clarified his comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s community’s inclusion in the Backward Classes list in Gujarat and acknowledged that he was at fault with regard to the year he mentioned, but asserted that doesn’t take away the fact that Mr. Modi was not a born BC.

“This is not a criticism of the Prime Minister,” he said in an informal conversation with the media in New Delhi on Saturday (February 15), Mr. Reddy explained that he had merely pointed out that Mr. Modi was not born into the BC community, as his caste was listed as a Backward Class only in 1994. Earlier, BJP leaders termed Mr. Revanth Reddy’s comments on Mr. Modi as ‘irresponsible’ questioning whether Mr. Revanth Reddy would claim that certain castes recognized as backward classes after 1970 in undivided Andhra Pradesh were not genuinely BCs.

Mr. Revanth Reddy, who was in New Delhi to meet Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, challenged Mr. Modi to demonstrate his commitment to BC communities by conducting a caste census during the population census. Telangana government has taken up the caste survey to determine the BC population and Mr. Modi as Prime Minister should be committed to conduct caste census in the country, he said.

Referring to his meeting with Mr. Rahul Gandhi, he said that he had discussed caste census and SC sub-classification issues and would work under his guidance. Mr Reddy denied any rift with Mr. Gandhi, attributing such reports to media speculation.

The Chief Minister criticized his predecessor, K Chandrasekhar Rao, for not accounting for minorities in his ‘Comprehensive Family Survey’ conducted in 2014. He questioned the KCR government’s omission, asking where the minorities would fit in.

He touted the survey taken up by his government as a benchmark for the country and added that legislation related to the caste census would be tabled in the first week of March and sent to the Central government for approval. A public meeting to celebrate will be held in the first week of March to mark the success of the caste survey. The deadline for the caste survey has been extended to the end of February.