Manda Krishna feels ditched by Modi?

The much-hyped public meeting by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Secunderabad parade grounds on Saturday night turned out to be a big disappointment for Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) founder-president Manda Krishna Madiga.

The entire show was organised by Krishna Madiga in the name of “Madiga Upa Kulaala Vishwaroopa Sabha” (The mega rally of SC sub-castes) at a huge cost, after he was given the impression that Modi would make an announcement of SC categorisation from the dais.

He turned emotional on the stage as Modi was about to speak and even broke down by hugging the Prime Minister. It evoked a huge response from the audiences, giving the much-needed fillip to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

But what Modi spoke at the rally was a virtual damp squib. All that he said was that he was committed to the categorisation of SCs and that he would appoint a committee to look into the issue.

“I am fully aware of the demand of Manda Krishna Madiga and I would stand by him. The government would appoint a committee to look into the demand of the Madigas for categorisation of SCs and ensure to justice to the downtrodden sections among the SCs,” he said.

Obviously, Krishna Madiga was disappointed with Modi’s announcement. Realising this, the Prime Minister praised him and described him as his younger brother, who had been fighting for the issue for the last three decades.

Modi sought to utilise the opportunity to convert it into an election speech and appealed to the people not to vote for the Congress and the BRS.

Now, what has Krishna Madiga achieved?

He got the blame of being a BJP man and nothing more than that. The appointment of a committee is no solution as several committees were appointed in the past to study SC categorisation. All that Modi has to do was to submit an affidavit in the Supreme Court which is hearing the categorisation issue.

But Modi did not talk about it.

“This is nothing but delaying tactics on the part of Modi. If he is sincere, he should not waste time in the name of committees, but introduce the bill in the winter session of Parliament for SC categorisation,” a Dalit leader said.