Amit Shah must apologise to Telangana people before Hyderabad visit: Ponnam
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Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar demanded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah must tender an unconditional apology to the people of Telangana for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged remarks in Parliament against the formation of the State.
Speaking to the media at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday, Mr. Ponnam said Mr. Shah was welcome to visit Hyderabad, but he should answer certain questions concerning Telangana before undertaking political activities in the State.
He alleged that the BJP-led Union government was weakening democratic and constitutional institutions and that the Congress would continue its fight to protect democracy and the Constitution under the leadership of AICC leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
Referring to Mr. Shah’s proposed Hyderabad visit, the Minister questioned the Centre’s priorities, alleging that critical issues such as the violence in Manipur and other northeastern States and tensions along the China border were being neglected while the Home Minister was focusing on political mobilisation in Telangana.
Mr. Ponnam, who also holds the BC Welfare portfolio, said he would write officially to Mr. Shah seeking the inclusion of a comprehensive caste enumeration of Backward Classes in the national Census.
Caste-wise data were essential to assess the socio-economic conditions of BC communities and ensure that reservations and welfare schemes reached the intended beneficiaries, he said. While the Centre was counting cattle and sheep across the country, it was not conducting an enumeration of crores of OBCs, he remarked.
He challenged BJP leaders from Telangana, including K. Laxman, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Eatala Rajender and Dharmapuri Arvind, to prevail upon Mr. Shah to include caste enumeration in the national Census if they were genuinely committed to the welfare of Backward Classes.
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