Telangana BJP Chief Slams Congress’ Jantar Mantar Protest as ‘Political Drama’ Over BC Quota

Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao on Saturday accused the Congress government of orchestrating a “political drama” through a planned dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on August 6 to “defame” the BJP and the Centre over delays in implementing Backward Class (BC) quota bills. Speaking at a BJP OBC Morcha protest in Hyderabad, Rao criticized the Congress for promising a 42% BC reservation in local bodies, education, and employment but allocating 10% of it to Muslims, which he called a deceptive move.

“The BJP supports the 42% BC quota but firmly opposes the 10% Muslim reservation within it. If Congress truly cares for BCs, scrap the Muslim quota,” Rao demanded, addressing Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. He argued that the state’s two BC quota bills, passed in March 2025, are the Congress government’s responsibility to implement, citing Article 243(D) of the Constitution, which empowers states to manage local body elections. “You introduced the bills; you must enforce them. Why blame the Centre for your failures?” he questioned.

Rao, a former MLC and lawyer, dismissed the Jantar Mantar protest as a publicity stunt, alleging Reddy’s inability to secure a meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi despite “50 Delhi visits” since taking office in December 2023. “Your own leader ignores you, so you’re staging this drama,” he claimed. The bills, sent to the Union government for inclusion in the Ninth Schedule to bypass the Supreme Court’s 50% reservation cap, face legal hurdles, including opposition to religion-based quotas, as per the 1992 Indra Sawhney ruling.

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Telangana Congress president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud announced the dharna, to be led by Reddy with state ministers, to press for Presidential assent. Rao countered that the BJP supports BC empowerment, noting the Modi government’s constitutional status for the OBC Commission and 29 BC Union ministers. Political observers see the protest as Congress leveraging the BC issue to rally voters before the September 30, 2025, local elections, while the BJP aims to expose alleged Congress hypocrisy.

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