Telangana: Cong leaders to visit Delhi from Aug 5-7, meet President Murmu over 42% OBC reservation in local bodies

By Pramod Chaturvedi
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 29 (ANI): Telangana MLAs and MLCs will visit Delhi from August 5 to 7 to meet President Droupadi Murmu regarding the implementation of the 42 per cent OBC reservation in local bodies, Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said.
Speaking to ANI on Monday, Ponnam Prabhakar, "Under the leadership of the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge, and the Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, we will be in Delhi from August 5 to 7 to visit the President."
Prabhakar said that they went to President Droupadi Murmu on March 30 but have not received an update regarding the implementation of the OBC reservation.
"Regarding the 42 per cent OBC reservation in local bodies, we went to the President on March 30 after the approval of the Governor. We still haven't heard anything about it. MLAs, MPs and MLCs together are going to Delhi to meet the President," he said.
The Telangana Minister requested the BJP MPs also to come along with Congress leaders to support the reservation.
"I am also asking Telangana BJP to come with us to Delhi. There are five OBC MPs in the BJP. I request them that there is no need to do politics. For the first time in history, the Congress government, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, is moving forward to bring 42 per cent reservation in local bodies. OBC organisations have been fighting for the welfare of OBCs in Telangana for years. I request intellectuals also to come to Delhi and meet the President," he said.
When asked about the timing of the decision, ahead of the local body elections in the state, he said that the government was collecting data so that the decision could stand its ground in court.
"This is not a thing to feed from a spoon, we have to ensure the decision stands in the court. In the Indira Sahani case, the court asked for empirical data. We employed one lakh people for a year and collected data from units of 150 houses each. Today, the Telangana government has the empirical data and report from an independent committee," The Telangana Minister told ANI.
"We created the bill on February 4, the Bill was ordered on February 17 and on February 30, the Governor sent it to Delhi. We are ready, you implement it. From the Kamareddy declaration to today's cabinet, we haven't deviated. We will implement it, the Telangana public trusts us," Ponnam Prabhakar added.
Earlier on July 25, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy unveiled the 'Telangana Socio-Economic Survey - Model and Methodology' at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi, and urged Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to raise the issue of OBC reservations in Parliament.
Following the survey, the Telangana government passed two reservation bills, one for education and employment and another for political representation, allocating 42 per cent reservation for OBCs.
These bills, pending before the President of India for three months, prompted Reddy to appeal to Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, and Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, to advocate for their passage.
"We ask Rahul Gandhi ji and Kharge ji to raise this in Parliament, put forward motions, and take the lead. We will protest in the streets if needed," he declared. (ANI)