Reservations for backward sections among Muslims&STs;Cong hits

The main opposition Congress in Telangana today hit out at Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for allegedly not raising the issue of enhancing reservations for backward sections among Muslims and Scheduled Tribes in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 15.

Rao had supported BJP on demonetisation, GST and also in the election of the President and Vice President, but did not mention the reservation issue when he met Modi (to increase the quotas), state Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy told reporters here.

"He (Rao) supported them in so many ways as per a 'clandestine' agreement.. why is he not interested to talk about the issue of reservation for Muslim brothers and sisters with Modi?" he asked.

Rao had promised 12 per cent reservation for Scheduled Tribes during the separate Telangana agitation and made it 10 per cent in a bill passed by Legislative Assembly and did not even mention the matter with the Prime Minister, he claimed.

"Is it not a negligent attitude on the part of Rao towards Muslims and Scheduled Tribes?" Reddy asked.

The Telangana Legislature had last year passed the Bill enhancing reservations for Muslims and Scheduled Tribes (ST) to 12 per cent and 10 per cent respectively for admission into educational institutions and for the State services.

The Centre's nod is required to enhance the reservations for backward sections among Muslims and Scheduled Tribes.