Hyderabad: Demanding a cabinet berth in the Telangana government, members of the Kuruma and Yadav communities held a unique protest at the Gandhi Bhavan on Monday on June 23. They took livestock to the Congress headquarters, demanding ministerial posts for representatives from the two communities.
Commotion prevailed at the Gandhi Bhavan for a while before the police intervened and pacified the protestors who raised slogans and were seen holding copies of their representations along with flags. “The Golla community should be represented in the Telangana cabinet,” they demanded.
On June 12, members of the Kuruma and Golla communities submitted a representation to Telangana deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka seeking a ministerial berth for representatives from their respective communities in the state cabinet.
Aleru MLA and government whip Beerla Ilaiah, leading the demand, emphasised the need for fair political inclusion of these communities, which together constitute nearly 2.8 million people in the state.
On June 12, under Ayilayya’s leadership, Congress leaders from the Golla and Kuruma communities, including Charan Kaushik Yadav, Lokesh Yadav, Gauri Satish, Venugopal Yadav, Shivakumar, and Gajji Bhaskar, met Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud at Gandhi Bhavan and deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka at Praja Bhavan.
They submitted a memorandum urging the government to allocate cabinet and party positions to members of their communities.
Speaking at a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Ayilayya stated, “While justice has been done to Backwards Classes (BCs) in government and party posts, the Golla and Kuruma communities have been neglected. There are 22 lakh Gollas and 600,000 Kurumas in the state.”
The communities have demanded one cabinet minister post, one MLC, five corporation chairmen, five commission members, a PCC working president, three vice presidents, eight general secretaries, and five district Congress president posts.
Mahesh Kumar Goud assured the delegation that the Congress party would ensure opportunities for Golla and Kuruma leaders in party positions, promising to address their concerns and provide them due representation.
