CM Revanth takes on Amit Shah; asks him to clarify stand on delimitation remarks

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to clarify on what basis he is claiming that southern states would not lose parliamentary seats due to delimitation.

Talking to reporters, Revanth Reddy accused the BJP of using delimitation as a pretext to secure "permanent" power by increasing seats in "BIMARU states" while diminishing the political significance of the southern states.

"This will lead to a severe crisis in the country," he claimed.

Amit Shah's assertion that no southern state would see a reduction in Parliamentary representation amounted to saying that there will be no increase either, he added.

"Amit Shah says there will be no decrease in the existing number of seats. He is not saying how much the increase will be there for southern states. What is your term of reference (for delimitation)? Without saying whether it is based on population or pro rata, how can Amit Shah say there will be no decrease?” the chief minister asked.

Revanth Reddy stressed that the total number of Lok Sabha seats to be increased should be determined first, followed by their modalities for distribution in the states. He asserted that the increase should be proportional.

Citing an example, he said that if Uttar Pradesh, which currently has 80 constituencies, sees a 50 percent increase, it would gain 40 additional seats. Following the same logic, Telangana, with 17 Lok Sabha seats, should get nine more. Reddy warned that if the southern states are "punished" for successfully controlling population growth as per the Centre’s directives, it could trigger a "revolt."

"BJP is conspiring to weaken southern states politically and financially because BJP does not have a foothold in the South. They plan to ensure that the states where they have little presence should not have a share at the Centre. That conspiracy will be resisted," he said.

On the ongoing language row in Tamil Nadu, Revanth Reddy opined that a language should be learnt with interest, and any attempt to thrust a language would not be acceptable to anyone. He pointed to recent orders issued by his government for the compulsory teaching of Telugu in all schools.

Stressing that Telugu is an ancient language that needs to be protected, he said the government is also issuing its orders in Telugu.

"We have also demanded conducting UPSC exams in Telugu," he said. Training his guns on Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, the CM alleged that the former was playing the role of 'Saindhav' vis-a-vis the state government's projects.

He alleged that Kishan Reddy exerted pressure on his ministerial colleagues not to include the expansion of the Hyderabad Metro Rail and the proposed Regional Ring Road (RRR) in Hyderabad in the agenda of the Union Cabinet.

Kishan Reddy, who has been a Union Minister for the last six years, should state what special development project he got sanctioned for Telangana, the Chief Minister said.

Earlier, addressing a meeting of Congress leaders, Reddy highlighted various development and welfare initiatives of his government and said the ruling Congress can claim the 'Telangana model' as an alternative for the Gujarat model.

"The Congress party model is the Telangana model for caste census, for (SC) categorization, for unemployment, and all other issues," he said.

Alleging that the BJP divided people on religious, caste, and regional lines for the sake of power, he exhorted the party leaders and workers to keep up their effort to make Rahul Gandhi the country's next Prime Minister.