After more than two years of hesitation, finally Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to lead an all-party delegation to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 6 to request him for categorisation of Scheduled Castes.

In his regard, the Chief Minister wrote a letter today to all political parties in the State inviting them to be part of the delegation, and asked them to be present in New Delhi on February 5. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Uttam Kumar Reddy, AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, BJP president K Laxman, TDP President L Ramana, CPM secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram and CPI secretary Chada Venkatreddy were among the invitees.

Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) activists and opposition parties have been seeking him to lead such a delegation. But he has been alleged of avoiding the same. It may be recalled that Rao had, at a recent meeting with SC and ST lawmakers from all parties in the State, assured them that he would lead an all-party delegation to New Delhi to press for SC categorization.

The Chief Minister, during the meeting, had stressed on the need for a comprehensive plan for the welfare of SCs and STs in the State, and had made an impassioned call for cooperation from all political parties in this endeavour in true letter and spirit.

“Forget the past and let bygones be bygones. Instead of criticism and counter-criticism, we have to find out what government needs to do. Let us strengthen the existing Act,” he told the MPs, MLAs and MLCs, including from Opposition, who attended the meeting.

MRPS founder president Manda Krishna Madiga, who had turned as a bitter critic of the Chief Minister since time accusing him of betraying their community from going back on his promise on SC categorisation, today hailed his initiative and thanked him.