Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said that the BJP has decided that reservations of 4 per cent based on religion will be removed and asserted that reservations based on SC, ST, and OBC will be increased in Telangana.

“The party has decided that reservations of 4 per cent based on religion will be removed and reservations based on SC, ST, and OBC will increase… Under the EBC reservation, minorities such as Muslims, Christians and other social groups will also be included after the BJP comes into power,” he added.

Union Minister further asserted that with the blessings of the Telangana people, we will make Chief Minister from the backward caste in the state if the BJP is voted to power.

“The BJP has decided that after coming into power in Telangana with the blessings of the people, we will make Chief Minister from the backward class,” Kishan Reddy said.

Earlier on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the next Chief Minister of the BJP  in the state will be from a backward caste if the party is voted to power.

“Today I want to tell the people of Telangana, give your blessings to BJP and form the BJP government. BJP will give Telangana a Chief Minister from the backward class,” Amit Shah said addressing Jana Garjana Sabha in Suryapet.

With Assembly elections in Telangana on sight, the BJP seems to be working strategically to unseat the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the state.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on October 9 announced that the Telangana Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on November 30. The counting of votes will be done on December 3.

Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and the Congress in the upcoming assembly election.

In the previous Assembly election held in 2018, BRS managed to win 88 seats out of 119 and had a dominant vote share of 47.4 per cent. Congress came in a distant second with 19 seats. Its vote share was 28.7 per cent.

As many as 37 Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested and five of their fishing trawlers were seized by the Sri Lankan navy after they allegedly strayed into Lankan territorial waters, a fisheries official in Chennai said on Sunday.

The men were arrested during an operation by the Lankan navy on Saturday night.

This month alone, 10 fishing boats and 64 fishermen from the state have been apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy.

Taking up the issue with the Centre, Chief Minister M K Stalin urged Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to initiate necessary steps to secure the release all the fishermen and their fishing boats.

Drawing the Central minister’s attention to the apprehension of the 37 fishermen along with their five fishing boats by the Sri Lankan navy on October 28, the Chief Minister said, “As you are aware, our fishermen are solely dependent on their fishing activity for livelihood and these frequent arrests are causing immense distress and suffering to the fishermen community.” In a letter to Jaishankar on Sunday, a copy of which was made available to the media here, Stalin said such acts of the Sri Lankan navy have put pressure on fishermen communities in the state, and instilled panic into their minds.

“I wish to state that Tamil Nadu fishermen feel that their voices are on the wane; and I feel that the Government of India should stand more vocally for our fishermen’s rights and speak for their safety,” he said.

The chief minister reiterated the demand to protect the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay region.

Despite the persistent demand to stop the arrests and seizure of boats, the Sri Lankan navy has continued to apprehend Indian fishermen, he said in the letter and called for “solid diplomatic initiatives without further delay to end the arrests.” 

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has claimed that Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s admission of sharing her mail ID and password with a Dubai-based industrialist is a violation of IT rules. Dubey cited the IT Act and stated that sharing such information is punishable with a jail term of up to 3 years. Moitra, a member of Parliament’s IT standing committee, is facing a cash-for-query case, and Dubey has shared a copy of a bill allegedly paid by the industrialist for Moitra’s stay in a luxury hotel.