The BJP candidates will lose their deposits, said K Kavitha. (FILE)
Amid the frenzied political discourse around caste census, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha on Monday hit out at the Congress and the BJP on Monday, claiming that neither has done anything for the backward classes.
Speaking to ANI on Monday, K Kavitha said, "Neither the Congress nor the BJP have done anything for the backward classes. There has been a persistent demand from Telangana and many other south Indian states that a Backward Classes Welfare ministry should be established. Why has the BJP not met this demand to date? While a Backward Classes Commission was founded, it has, for all practical purposes, been non-functional. Nowhere in the country does the commission have teeth. It is not helping the backward classes in any way. Why hasn't it been revived? The BJP should answer."
Also hitting out at the Congress, she alleged that the grand old party spent 4,000 crores of public money on a caste census but did not come out with the findings.
"Why has the issue of reservation for OBCs not been taken up in Parliament in earnest? It has been a long-pending demand. In Telangana, the BJP had made a backward-class leader as its state president. However, the party later removed him from the post and brought a general-class candidate in his place. The same BJP is now saying they would make a backward-class leader as chief minister if elected," she added.
Taking a further swipe at the BJP, Kavitha said "The BJP candidates will lose their deposits in all seats here. They are trying to muddle the minds of the backward-class people of Telangana but will not succeed in their plans. The voters of Telangana are politically aware. It's all too well for PM Modi to come here and make all sorts of promises to the people but the fact remains that the BJP has failed to meet the expectations of our backward classes."
Elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly will be held on November 30 and the counting of votes is scheduled for December 3.
In the previous Assembly elections in 2018, the BRS won 88 of the 119 seats, hogging 47.4 per cent of the total vote share.
The Congress finished a distant second with 19 seats and a vote share of 28.7 per cent.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)