Priyanka Gandhi promises 18% quota for SC, 12% for ST in Telangana

Ahead of the November 30 assembly elections, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi announced that Scheduled Castes will be given 18 per cent reservation in Telangana and Scheduled Tribes will be given 12 per cent reservation in the state once the party comes to power.

"We have decided that the SC will be given 18 per cent reservation and ST will be given 12 per cent reservation in Telangana. Under the Ambedkar Abhaya Hastam scheme, SC and ST families will be given Rs 12 lakhs. Indiramma pucca house scheme homeless SC and ST families will be given land and Rupees 6 lakhs for building their homes," Priyanka Gandhi said at Telangana's Mulugu on Wednesday.

The Congress leader said that the party believes in the principle of social justice and everyone should move forward together.

"It is Congress party's principle that there should be social justice and everyone should move forward together. The independence movement here was fought following this principle," Priyanka Gandhi said.

Priyanka Gandhi said that when the party realised the dream of the Telangana movement, it took the decision to grant it statehood.

"When Congress saw that this was your dream and you were fighting for it, and so many people were prepared to sacrifice for this dream, it took the decision to form Telangana state," she said.

Priyanka Gandhi said that the Congress governments formed in different states were people's governments meant to strengthen the masses.

The Congress governments that were established were representative of the people's interests and were intended to empower the citizens. They operated with a clear vision and purpose," she stated.

Criticizing the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi government, Priyanka Gandhi pointed out that the state government lacks the right intentions in its governance.

"When discussing intentions, this government seems to have a motive behind every action. If the government's intention is to exploit the people and engage in corruption while in power, then it fails to deliver on its promises," she remarked.

"Talking about motive, this government does not do anything without having the motive. If the motive of the government is to loot you and indulge in corruption while being in power, then it does not do good work," she said.

Speaking about the party's vision for Telangana, Priyanka Gandhi said, "We have made a vision and roadmap for Telangana. We have brought about guarantees for you. Guarantees are those which we want to do for you. We have already started implementing the guarantees we have given in other Congress states."

Earlier in the day, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra offered prayers at Ramappa Temple in Mulugu district in Telangana.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on October 9 announced that the Telangana Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on November 30. The counting of votes will be done on December 3.

Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and the Congress in the upcoming assembly election.

In the previous Assembly election held in 2018, BRS managed to win 88 seats out of 119 and had a dominant vote share of 47.4 per cent. Congress came in a distant second with 19 seats. Its vote share was 28.7 per cent.