BCs demand more representation

Urge political parties to include their rights in manifestos

Hyderabad: With almost all communities demanding their rights to be included in the manifestos of political parties, the BC community is too pitching for good representation in the political arena.

At a meeting organised by BC Chaitanya Vedika here on Monday, political leaders and members of the Vedika urged parties to include rights for BCs and women, and allot seats for the community.

President of the Vedika Veeravalli Srinivas expressed his displeasure over the BC movement in Seemaandhra. “While the movement is vibrant in the Telangana region, it is far from satisfactory in Seemandhra,” he opined. Welcoming the decision of some political parties that a BC would be made the first chief minister of Telangana, he said the same should be done in Seemandhra as well.

On the issue of the development of BCs and appointing persons from the community, Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao said that the party had appointed N Raghuveera Reddy and Ponnala Lakshmaiah, both backward class leaders, as presidents for Congress committees in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana respectively. BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya said that there was a need for unity among BCs and the BJP was in favour of giving adequate representation to them.

Pointing out at the lack of BC representation in the corridors of power, Annam Venkateshwar said except for Shiv Shankar there was not a single instance when a person from the BC community was made Chief Minister. Earlier, Surya Prakash, editor, Surya, said that all political parties brandied behind BCs for votes but when it came to plum posts the community was ignored. He warned political parties not to ignore BCs as they formed a major chunk of voters. BCs comprise 54 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and 65 per cent in Telangana. He urged political parties to give 50 per cent tickets to the community.