All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday over the issue of reservation to the backward classes, questioning that why a leader from the Munnuru Kapu caste, was not chosen as the President of the BJP in Telangana.

Reacting to the statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the next Chief Minister of the BJP in the state will be from a backward caste if the party is voted to power, the AIMIM chief questioned why a leader from the Munnuru Kapu caste (Dharmapuri Arvind), was not chosen as the President of the BJP in Telangana.

“Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Lal Bahadur Stadium and made big declarations for backward classes. Earlier, there was a backward-class president from Munnuru Kapu in the BJP and you changed him to G. Kishan Reddy. Why did you do that?” Owaisi said while referring to Dharmapuri Arvind, who belongs to Munnuru Kapu caste.

“Why didn’t the BJP increase the reservation of backward classes from 50 percent? Why weren’t the OBC women and women from minority and backward communities yet included in the bill?” he added while addressing a public gathering in Hyderabad..

Earlier, lauding the BJP-led NDA government at the centre, the Prime Minister said, “It is the NDA that caters to the rights of the backward class people. It is the NDA that provides fair representation for them. We made APJ Abdul Kalam president of the country. In 1996, when a tribal leader, PS Sangamaji, was selected for the post of Lok Sabha speaker, Atalji gave full support”.

“It is the NDA that gave the country its first tribal Lok Sabha speaker, Bal Yogiji. We made Droupadi Murmu, who is a tribal woman, and president of the country. We selected Ram Nath Kovind, who is a BC leader, for the post of president. The NDA chose me, the country’s first OBC Prime Minister, with the blessings of the countrymen. There are 27 OBC cabinet ministers, which is a record in itself,” he added.

Telangana will go to assembly elections on November 30 and counting of votes, along with those of four other poll-bound states, has been scheduled for December 3.

The state is set to witness a triangular contest among the BJP, BRS and the Congress.

In the previous Assembly election in 2018, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), previously known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), won 88 of the 119 seats, hogging 47.4 per cent of the total vote share. The Congress came in a distant second with just 19 seats.