Ponnam Demands Amit Shah Apologise to Telangana Before Hyderabad Visit
Telangana Minister for Transport and Backward Classes Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar on Friday demanded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah tender an unconditional apology to the people of Telangana for what he described as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks in Parliament against the formation of the State.
Speaking to reporters at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, Mr. Prabhakar said Mr. Shah was welcome to visit the city, but should first answer questions relating to Telangana before taking part in political activities in the State.
The Minister alleged that the BJP-led Union government was weakening democratic and constitutional institutions. He said the Congress would continue its fight to protect democracy and the Constitution under the leadership of AICC leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
The remarks come against the backdrop of a prolonged political argument between the Congress government in Telangana and the BJP at the Centre over the terms of the State's formation. Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in June 2014. The Congress has been in power in the State since December 2023.
Referring to Mr. Shah's proposed visit to Hyderabad, Mr. Prabhakar questioned the Union government's priorities. He alleged that pressing issues such as the violence in Manipur and other parts of the North-East, and continuing tensions along the China border, were being neglected while the Home Minister focused on political mobilisation in Telangana.
The Minister, who also holds the Backward Classes Welfare portfolio, said he would write officially to Mr. Shah seeking the inclusion of a comprehensive caste enumeration of Backward Classes in the national Census.
He argued that caste-wise data were essential to assess the socio-economic conditions of Backward Class communities and to ensure that reservation benefits and welfare schemes reached the intended beneficiaries. He remarked that while the Centre was conducting a count of cattle and sheep across the country, no enumeration of the crores of Other Backward Classes had been taken up.
Mr. Prabhakar challenged BJP leaders from Telangana, including Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and legislators K. Laxman, Eatala Rajender and Dharmapuri Arvind, to prevail upon Mr. Shah to include caste enumeration in the national Census if they were genuinely committed to the welfare of Backward Classes.
The demand for caste-based enumeration has been a recurring point of friction between the Congress in Telangana and the BJP. The State government has cited its own survey of caste and socio-economic conditions as the basis for its welfare planning, while the Union government has defended the design of the decennial Census and its separate exercise on caste data.
There was no immediate response from the BJP or from Mr. Shah's office to the Minister's statements. The Home Minister's Hyderabad programme is expected to include public and party events, details of which have not been formally announced. Officials indicated that any official communication from the State government to the Home Ministry would be sent in writing, as the Minister stated.
