Telangana Elections 2018: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) gets lashing from inside and outside party for removing 26 castes from the Backward Caste list after enjoying benefits of caste politics for 30 long years. The TRS announced to pull out 26 castes from the list of BCs list right in 2014 soon after making government. The party had said that since they are not the original native to Telangana and that they have migrated from North Andhra and Odisha.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi has issued a GO on March 11, 2015, de-listing 26 castes from the list of Backward Classes. As many as few lakh voters faces the consequences, as the majority of them come from labour class and will be suffering as their children have lost the benefits of reservation.
Increasing the risks for the ruling TRS party, now the Chandrashekhar Rao’s voters are getting inclined towards opposition parties. These voters play a decisive role in the winning prospects of parties in Assembly seats in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, and Khammam districts.
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Worried leaders of TRS are also requesting party president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to re-include these castes in Backward Class list. TRS candidates contesting from Quthbullapur, Serilingampally, Jubilee Hills, Uppal etc have represented to party chief and caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to include this issue in the party’s soon-to-be-released manifesto promising re-inclusion of these castes in the list of BCs.
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TRS candidates are pointing out that over 20 lakh voters from these castes are residing in GHMC limits alone and the party’s vote bank will be affected if these sections vote against the party.
Major castes affected with TRS’ caste removal decision
- Koppulavelama
- Kalinga
- Toorpu Kapu
- Gavara
- Setti Balija
These castes were classified under BC-D category due to which their children were eligible for government fee reimbursement scheme to pursue higher education and professional courses, scholarships, reservations in education and jobs.
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Some of the voters are complaining that they had to discontinue the studies of their children midway in engineering and other professional colleges as they were denied fee reimbursement. They are expressing anger at the TRS candidates saying that they will teach a fitting lesson in the ensuing elections if their issue is not addressed.
