Sat Feb 15 16:19:47 UTC 2025: ## Centre Rejects Inclusion of Muslims in Telangana’s Backward Classes List

**Hyderabad, February 15, 2025** – The Union Minister of State for Home, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, has firmly rejected the Telangana government’s proposal to include Muslims in the state’s Backward Classes (BC) list. Speaking after a review meeting in Hyderabad, Mr. Sanjay stated that such inclusion would violate the Constitution and that the Centre would not accept it.

While expressing support for the Telangana government’s efforts to increase BC reservations to 42%, Mr. Sanjay insisted this must occur *without* including Muslims. He argued that including Muslims would unfairly reduce opportunities for other BC communities, particularly Hindus, due to the perceived collective voting patterns of the Muslim population. He further pointed out that Muslims already benefit from various minority and economically weaker section schemes.

Separately, Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy criticized Telangana’s Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy, for questioning Prime Minister Modi’s BC status. Mr. Reddy reminded the public that the Prime Minister’s caste was included in the BC list in Gujarat in 1994 under a Congress government. He deemed Mr. Revanth Reddy’s comments irresponsible and cautioned him against making baseless allegations. Mr. Kishan Reddy further highlighted that several prominent BC castes in Telangana were only included in the list after 1970, questioning the Chief Minister’s criteria for judging the authenticity of BC status.

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