Overview

• In Vijayawada, a CPI-led roundtable urged the Chandrababu Naidu government to conduct a caste census and assign BC quotas in local bodies based on population.
• Participants resolved to intensify the drive through district meetings, representations to MLAs and State-wide protests.
• Speakers sought 33% reservation for BCs in legislatures and safeguards for education and jobs, as CPI’s K. Ramakrishna warned that privatisation, including at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, would erode reserved employment.
• In Karimnagar, retired IAS officer T. Chiranjeevulu and other BC leaders called for an agitation to secure 42% reservation and asked the Union government to place it in the Ninth Schedule.
• Activists pressed for greater political empowerment within parties, including a call for BRS to elevate a BC leader to working president to widen representation.