AP Congress Committee President YS Sharmila and CPI National Secretary K. Ramakrishna share a lighter moment at a round table meeting organized by the CPI to discuss the Supreme Court verdict on Dalit Christians in Vijayawada on Tuesday. | Photo credit: KVS Giri
The recent Supreme Court verdict on Scheduled Caste status for those who do not belong to Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism is unfortunate and part of a BJP conspiracy, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president YS Sharmila said.
Participating in a round table organized by the Communist Party of India (CPI) to discuss the issue in Vijayawada on Tuesday (March 31), Ms Sharmila wondered if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also taken control of the Supreme Court.
On March 24, the Supreme Court ruled in Chinthada Anand v State of Andhra Pradesh that a pastor from the state’s Madiga community could not claim to be a SC because he had converted to Christianity.
The Congress state chief questioned the silence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on the issue affecting 80 lakh Dalit Christians in AP. Such judgments, unjust and impulsive, weaken the spirit of the Constitution, she said.
She also added that people belonging to SC do not see improvement in economic status after conversion to Christianity and attacks against them do not decrease after conversion.
Asked by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu about his election promise of SC status to Dalit Christians, Ms. Sharmila said that the Congress was supporting the aggrieved people. She demanded that the report prepared by the Ranganath Misra Commission, which recommended granting SC status to Dalits converting to Christianity or Islam, be tabled in Parliament and a review of the Supreme Court’s verdict be filed.
Published – 31 March 2026 22:08 IST
