Hyderabad: Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi founder Manda Krishna Madiga, who fought for the categorisation of Scheduled Caste communities for reservations, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy for the Supreme Court’s favourable decision on the issue.
He blamed the Congress for the inordinate delay in getting the verdict and giving fewer Parliament and Assembly seats for leaders from the Madiga community.
On his arrival to the city on Tuesday, Krishna received a tumultuous and enthusiastic welcome by his followers, who thronged the Secunderabad railway station and went on a rally to Basheerbagh. The mass gathering passed through the Clock Tower, Patny Centre, Bible House, Tank Bund, Ambedkar Statue to reach the destination after four hours.
The flags of MRPS adorned the thorough lanes of the twin cities along the route which came alive with slogans hailing the three decade long struggle which started in the mid 1990s.
Addressing the rally, he said, “The three-decade-long struggle yielded the result finally with the Supreme Court agreeing to the categorisation.”
“We surged ahead despite repression. Many faced jail. MRPS-affiliated organisations consisting of students, lawyers, and women played a stellar role. Many from different communities like intellectuals, journalists stood by us and for this we owe to the society at large also. We will try to repay the debt back to it. As part of this, we championed the cause of the physically challenged also,” he said.
“How did we get this judgment after it was dismissed by the Supreme Court earlier? There were Congress governments both at the state and Central level then because those, who opposed us, were in upper hand in the Congress. The Congress did not give a single MP seat to the Madigas though 80 per cent of SCs are from our community in Telangana. Did the seats for Madigas not reduce after Revanth Reddy became the Chief Minister? But I thanked him when he promised to categorise the SCs,” he added.
“I won’t keep quiet if seats are reduced and will stand by the community. I don’t have any personal grudge or animosity against anyone. I will meet Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and minister Damodar Raja Narasimha to seek an early implementation as promised by them. The process was delayed as the Congress governments delayed filing affidavits in the case before the Supreme Court. I thank the SC judges for recognising the necessity for categorisation,” he said.
