Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 7 : Telangana Minister for Transport and BC Welfare, Ponnam Prabhakar, announced on Friday that an all-party meeting would be convened to protest the alleged injustice caused to Southern states by the proposed delimitation of constituencies. Speaking after the Telangana Cabinet meeting, Prabhakar voiced concerns about the potential negative impact of the delimitation process, particularly on the representation of Southern states in the Lok Sabha.
“We are going to hold an all-party meeting under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and senior leader Kunduru Jana Reddy to fight this injustice. We won’t allow injustice to be done to Telangana. We will take along all South Indian states and fight against the central government which is thinking of doing this injustice,” Prabhakar stated.
The issue of delimitation, which adjusts the boundaries of constituencies based on population, has become a contentious topic, with concerns raised that Southern states, including Telangana, could lose political representation. This concern was initially highlighted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who claimed that his state would lose representation if a population-based delimitation were to be implemented.
Prabhakar also touched upon other key issues discussed during the Cabinet meeting. He mentioned the progress on the Special Category (SC) categorization, with 71 recommendations having been received and a report submitted by the one-man Judicial Commission, Justice Shameem Akhtar, which the Cabinet has approved for further action.
In terms of welfare measures, Prabhakar highlighted the government’s plan to introduce a bill in the Assembly for 42% reservation for backward classes in political, educational, and employment sectors. Additionally, he shared that the Telangana government has prepared a new tourism policy aimed at attracting Rs 15,000 crore in investments and creating 300,000 jobs, with preparations underway to host the Miss World competition in Hyderabad.
On the subject of women’s empowerment, Prabhakar reiterated the state government’s commitment to making women “millionaires” by introducing measures such as free buses for women and promoting their participation in the power sector.
Responding to the Telangana government’s stance, BJP leader N Ramchander Rao criticized the opposition for misleading the public regarding the delimitation and language policies. “The non-BJP governments, especially from South India, are trying to mislead the people with regards to delimitation and the language policy. The BJP government in the center made it very clear that the language policy would respect all regional languages and that there would be no thrust of any language on any state,” Rao said. He also reassured that the delimitation process would not result in a reduction of representation for any state.
As the debate over delimitation intensifies, Telangana and other Southern states are gearing up for a united political response to protect their interests.