Congress Is Only True Secular Party ,Says Uttam Kumar Reddy
- Uttam Kumar Reddy affirms Congress as only secular force from Delhi to Galli
- Minority meet in Yousufguda highlights Congress record on empowerment and education
Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday declared that the Congress remained the only political party that was truly secular “from Delhi to Galli,” and the only credible force capable of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) both in Telangana and across India. He made these remarks while addressing a minority meeting at Yousufguda as part of the Congress campaign for Jubilee Hills candidate Naveen Yadav.
Speaking before a gathering of party workers and community representatives, Uttam Kumar Reddy criticised regional parties such as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), calling them unreliable and accusing them of aiding the BJP’s expansion by splitting the secular vote. He predicted that the BRS would “meet the same fate as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP),” noting that past opportunistic alliances with the BJP had led to political decline.
The meeting was also addressed by TPCC President B Mahesh Kumar Goud, Telangana Government Advisor Mohammed Ali Shabbir, and Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Md Azharuddin. In his address, Uttam Kumar Reddy accused the BRS of failing to protect minority institutions and welfare schemes. “Nearly 80 per cent of minority colleges closed during the BRS rule, and several schemes were left incomplete,” he said. He contrasted this with Congress’s recent initiatives, including the Minority Declaration with a budget of Rs 4,000 crore and a Minority Sub-Plan allocating Rs 1,000 crore subsidy for two years.
Highlighting Congress’s achievements in education, he said that in the past 22 months, the government had sanctioned 2,200 additional engineering seats for minority colleges and granted permission for one law college and one pharmacy college for minority students. He further recalled that during the Congress rule from 2004 to 2014, six medical colleges for minorities were established, reflecting the party’s “commitment to empowerment through education.” He added that Congress had extended BC reservations to local body elections, allowing many Muslims to become sarpanches and Zilla Parishad members for the first time.
He also reiterated that the 4 per cent minority reservation was introduced and implemented by Congress and that the party continues to fight its case in the Supreme Court. “Telangana was the first state to oppose the proposed Wakf Amendment Act,” he noted, highlighting that Tamil Nadu later followed the same path. Uttam Kumar Reddy provided a historical reference, stating that the idea of a separate minority budget began under Congress in 1993–94 with Rs 2 crore and had grown to more than Rs 1,000 crore by 2013–14.
Comparing Congress’s record with that of the BJP and BRS governments, he said, “The BJP cut scholarships, skill programmes, and educational grants for minorities. The BRS, claiming to be secular, never protested these cuts.” He urged minority voters in Jubilee Hills to unite behind Naveen Yadav and the Congress Party. “Every vote for Congress is a vote to protect secularism, social justice, and constitutional rights. Only Congress has the capacity and credibility to defeat BJP at the national level,” he said, concluding to loud applause.
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