Hyderabad: Calling for a sustained political pushback against the Centre, chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday demanded that any future delimitation exercise must ensure a pro rata increase in Lok Sabha seats for southern states.Addressing the 135th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr B R Ambedkar at Lower Tank Bund, Revanth alleged that the BJP-led Union govt was attempting to dilute the South’s representation in Parliament under the pretext of increasing seats by 50%. The CM warned that the Centre’s proposed move could result in grave injustice to women and to SC and ST communities in the southern region. He further claimed that Union ministers were fully aware of what he described as an attempt to curtail the South’s parliamentary representation.Stating that the Congress govt was giving top priority to the empowerment of the SC community, the CM alleged that the BRS govt never garlanded and paid homage to Dr Ambedkar’s statue during its 10-year rule. The CM criticised former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao for not attending the assembly. KCR insulted the Dalit assembly speaker by staying away from the sessions, he said.“Are not the sons and daughters of the Dalit community entitled to serve as finance and health ministers? It was the people-centric govt that brought about a transformation where those who once insulted Dalits are now compelled to request a Dalit individual for a microphone to speak in the assembly,” he added.He appealed to people to “bury BRS for its betrayal politics.”“After coming to power, the Congress govt increased diet charges for students in govt hostels, establishing Young India Integrated Schools with the aim of eliminating caste-based disparities and introducing Telangana Public Schools with the objective of providing quality education,” the CM said.In just two years, govt had allotted 4.5 lakh Indiramma houses, and the majority of the beneficiaries were Dalits and tribals. About 87% of the jobs created were given to SC, ST, BC and minority communities, he added.
