Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday accused the BJP of taking revenge on southern states through its proposed delimitation exercise and urged the Centre to hold an all-party meeting on the issue. He also said the Centre should not force Hindi on anyone, but keep it optional.
Addressing the India Today Conclave in New Delhi, during a session on ‘Telangana‘s Transformer’, the CM said, “The BJP has almost no representation in the south and it is taking revenge through delimitation by reducing southern states’ representation in Parliament. The exercise will only benefit northern states and BJP which is politically strong in the region.”
Revanth, however, made it clear he was not asking for postponement of delimitation exercise, but only an all-party meeting to discuss it.
“Why is the govt leaving it to the bureaucracy? Now, Punjab is also claiming injustice. Even if it is done on a pro-rata basis, the south will lose out. For example, UP has 80 seats, and if a decision is taken to increase 50% seats, UP’s LS tally will rise by 40 to 120. In comparison, Tamil Nadu (39) will get only 20 more seats. The southern states together have 123 seats and their maximum strength will go up to 183. Whereas BIMARU states (Bihar, MP, Rajathan and UP) together will see major increase, benefiting the BJP directly,” he claimed, adding that any northern state that faces injustice on this issue can join the south.
On TN CM MK Stalin telling people in south to have more children, he said, “South will show its strength if delimitation exercise is postponed by 30 years. The central govt came up with ‘hum do, hamare do’ for family planning campaign nationally. The south implemented it, and now they want to punish us for it.”
On the row over Hindi, the CM said it should be kept optional while allowing students to opt for various languages such as Sanskrit, French, German etc., in educational institutions.
“While the BJP is doing so much to thrust Hindi on others, what has it done for Telugu, which is among the most spoken language in the country?” he asked.
“I am talking in Hindi here, learning it so that we can take on Modi. Just don’t try to force it. We are against it being thrust on us,” he said, pointing out how people willingly learn English to benefit from education and employment.
The CM also criticised Narendra Modi for continuing to promote his own state Gujarat despite being the country’s Prime Minister.
“Anyone who comes to India is taken to Gujarat to invest by the PM. He is not helping bring investment to all parts of the country,” the CM said.
He also brushed aside Gujarat’s development, pointing out that it has no welfare model. Drawing a cricket analogy, he called Gujarat’s approach as a ‘Test model’, while describing Telangana’s strategy as a dynamic ‘T20 model’ focussed on development, welfare and good governance.
On Congress losing streak in polls, the CM said the BJP has a “NICE” formula for winning – agencies such as Narcotics dept, Income Tax, CBI and Enforcement Directorate. “By misusing these agencies, the BJP is winning”, he said.
Revanth also clarified that he had no issues with PM Modi, but only with his policies.
“As a CM, it is my right and responsibility to ask questions to the PM in the spirit of federalism,” he said.
Box:
When the CM was asked that if BJP is accused of creating division through its Hindutva agenda, isn’t the Congress creating a divide through its caste census, Revanth replied: “If the demand for reservations is genuine, socio-economic, caste census should be done and quota extended to the deserving sections. When you are already doing the census of SCs and STs, why is the BJP not keen on conducting a BC census? How many minorities are there in Modi’s cabinet? Did not Muslims fight and give their lives in India’s freedom struggle? How can a PM do injustice to any one community?”
