Telangana Reservation Debate: CM Revanth Reddy Defends 4% Muslim Quota Amid KTR’s Criticism
Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy recently defended the state’s Muslim reservation policy, stating that the implementation of a four per cent reservation for Muslims was already in progress. Speaking from Solapur, Maharashtra, on Sunday, Reddy clarified that the state had initially introduced a five per cent reservation for Muslims, but this led to a breach of the 50 per cent cap mandated by the Supreme Court, prompting the state government to scale it back to four per cent.
Reddy explained, “In Telangana, we had a teacher recruitment drive where out of 11,000 candidates recruited, 720 were Muslims under the four per cent reservation. This is our responsibility as Congress to ensure justice for the poor and needy.”
However, his statement has ignited a fresh round of political debate, with BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) sharply criticizing the Congress-led state government. KTR dismissed Revanth Reddy’s comments as “clueless,” accusing the government of being ill-prepared to handle the reservation issue and calling the ongoing caste census a “cruel joke.” In a pointed interview, KTR said, “For them to implement anything above 50% reservation, a constitutional amendment is required. The CM and his team are clueless.”
KTR further challenged the Congress government’s effectiveness, calling it a “miserable administration” that had failed to deliver on its promises. He stressed that Telangana citizens could testify to the Congress party’s inability to fulfill even half of its electoral guarantees, adding to the growing political divide in the state.
As the reservation issue continues to be a contentious topic, the debate between Congress and BRS is expected to intensify in the lead-up to the upcoming elections, with both parties using the issue to rally support from various sections of the electorate.
