Pruning of Backward Classes list likely to prove costly for TRS

Hyderabad: The TRS has been facing the heat of castes which lost Backward Classes status, during the ongoing campaigning for Assembly polls.

The TRS government had deleted 26 castes from the BCs list soon after coming to power in 2014 on the ground that they had migrated from north Andhra and Odisha and were not native to the new state. 

The TRS government has issued a GO on March 11, 2015, de-listing 26 castes from the list of BCs. Lakhs of these voters, mostly engaged in labour and construction activities, suffered as their children lost reservation benefits. They are now being wooed by Opposition parties. 

These voters play a decisive role in the winning prospects of parties in Assembly seats in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Khammam districts. 

TRS candidates too are urging party president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to re-include these castes in BC list. These castes enjoyed reservation benefits for 30 years in undivided AP.

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. 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.

During campaigning, the TRS candidates are facing the ire of voters from members of these castes, who are complaining about how the government had denied them the benefits of BC status, that they were enjoying since 1970 on the basis of the recommendations of the Anantharaman commission in undivided AP.

Major castes that were affected badly after TRS came to power include  Koppulavelama, Kalinga, Toorpu Kapu, Gavara, Setti Balija etc. 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.

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.