CM, Deputy CM to join Janahita padayatra

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief B. Mahesh Kumar Goud said that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and several other ministers will join his ‘Janahita padayatra’ sometime, stating that the yatra will resume on August 23.

He remarked that attempts were made to project his yatra as AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan’s by some for vested interests. The yatra, launched on July 31, was halted on August 4 since the TPCC staged a dharna in Delhi demanding approval of bills on BC reservation bills.

In an informal interaction with the media at Gandhi Bhavan here on Saturday, Mr. Mahesh Kumar revealed that they initially wanted to launch a bus yatra but later decided to take up a padayatra (foot march), adding that the yatra is receiving an overwhelming response, akin to the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“The majority of the appeals from the people during the yatra are related to the sanction of new pensions,” he said. Referring to the issue of BC reservations, the TPCC president reiterated their commitment towards implementing 42% reservations for BCs. He, however, criticised the BJP leaders for their opposition to Muslims reservations within the BC reservations.

“Why is Union Minister Kishan Reddy silent on reservations for Muslims in Gujarat, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh?” he asked, adding that the silence of BJP BC MPs, Bandi Sanjay, Eatala Rajender, and Dharmapuri Arvind, would harm the BCs in the State.

The Congress senior leader also said that a BC leader from the Congress would certainly become the Chief Minister for Telangana. He also said that there is nothing wrong with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for saying that he would remain in the post for 10 years, as that would help the government gain the confidence of the people. “There has been a lot of change in the Chief Minister’s behaviour, he is a different person now compared to when he was TPCC president,” he said.

Mr. Mahesh Kumar also dismissed the reports that he had differences with Chief Minister. “We maintain a good relationship. It should be noted that we fought unitedly for the BC reservations,” he claimed.

On recent comments by Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy and Jadcherla MLA J. Anirudh Reddy, the TPCC president said the party’s disciplinary committee would look into the matter. He also stated that the political advisory committee would meet in four to five days to take a call on BC reservations in the local bodies.