HYDERABAD: BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar demanded that the Valmiki community be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category immediately and provided reservation benefits. He said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had assured to do so but has failed to keep his promise.
Sanjay was speaking at a function at the party office to celebrate Valmiki Jayanti, and asked members of the community to question the Chief Minister about reservations. The community was living in poverty, Sanjay said.
BJP general secretaries and state incharges Tarun Chugh and Sunil Bansal, co-incharge Arvind Menon, national executive committee members A.P. Jitender Reddy, Garikapati Mohan Rao and former minister A. Chandrasekhar were present.
Sanjay said that Valmiki was synonymous with the Ramayana. "People worship Lord Rama due to Valmiki’s depiction in the Ramayana", he said. Members of the community should not under-estimate themselves, he said. “They are the symbols of the determination of Valmiki,”
Sanjay said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would dedicate the Mahakal Corridor to the nation in Ujjain on October 11, and projectors would be set up at important shrines to telecast the programme, he said.
