BJP demands local body polls with 42% quota for BCs without any further delay

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, demanded the government to stop dilly-dallying on holding local body elections and declare a schedule soon considering that many of the elected bodies had already completed their respective terms.

In a press conference at the State office, general secretary K. Venkateshwarlu and spokesperson S. Prakash Reddy said that the ruling party, which vows by the ideals of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is insulting his legacy by refusing to hold local body polls and has been following in the footsteps of BRS government in not holding them on time after every five years.

The local body polls should be held with 42% quota for the Backward Classes (BCs) as promised by the Congress and it cannot shift the responsibility to make a constitutional amendment onto the Central government because the respective States have the power to take a decision, they claimed.

The Finance Commission mandated funds to the tune of about ₹2,300 crore has not been released because of the delay in conducting elections to the gram panchayats. Lack of funds is having a direct impact on the living conditions in the rural areas, said the BJP leaders.

The party has also called for the government to release pending dues under the ‘Rythu Bharosa’ financial assistance scheme to the farmers and criticised the ‘celebrations’ by the ruling party when a large number of beneficiaries were yet to receive their payments.

In a separate press release, another spokesperson N.V. Subash alleged that there has been misappropriation of public funds in the recently held ‘Bharat Summit’ as it was mainly aimed at propping up Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s global image, rather than serving the developmental needs of Telangana.

“When the State is struggling to pay pensions and meet basic welfare obligations, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had the audacity to blow nearly ₹30 crore on a pompous event and this is a gross misuse of public money,” he said. Mr. Subash called for a public apology by the CM for what he described as a “betrayal of public trust”.