Hyderabad: BRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Wednesday lashed out at the Congress government, alleging a massive betrayal of the Backward Classes (BCs) in Telangana under the pretext of providing 42 per cent reservations in local body elections.

Reacting to the High Court’s stay on the state government’s decision, Rama Rao said the judgment had exposed the Congress’s deception.

“For months, they played politics in the name of BC reservations. The GO they issued was legally untenable. Revanth Reddy has deceived the BC community and misled the people of Telangana,” KTR charged. He recalled BRS had cautioned the Congress earlier that the GO would not stand judicial scrutiny. “Today, the High Court’s stay order proves our words true. The Congress government used BC reservations only to buy time and mislead voters,” he remarked.

KTR accused the Congress government of fraud and manipulation from the beginning. “From caste census to the issuance of the GO, every move was filled with deceit. They made lofty promises only to divert attention from their failures,” he said. He recalled that the Congress had promised to hold local body elections only after securing 42 per cent BC reservations but went back on its word repeatedly. “Revanth Reddy even went to Delhi and said BC reservations would be given after Rahul Gandhi becomes Prime Minister. This shows how unserious they are about BC empowerment,” KTR said.

Calling the GO a political gimmick, KTR said the government issued it only to mislead the public. “While the BC Bill was still pending with the President, the Congress resorted to an Ordinance drama. They knew the GO would collapse in court but went ahead for publicity,” he added. He accused the Revanth Reddy government of using the BC reservation issue as a tool to delay the local body elections, fearing electoral backlash.

KTR said the BJP government was equally responsible for betraying BCs by keeping the pending BC Bills unresolved. “The Congress betrayed BCs in Telangana; the BJP betrayed them in Delhi. Both parties have stabbed backward communities in the back,” he said. KTR said that the people of Telangana would deliver a strong verdict against the Congress.