New Delhi: Days before Telangana goes to polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started the process of setting up a committee to look into the issue of the long-pending demand of Dalit sub-categorisation in the state, The Hindu reported.Modi discussed the issue and modalities with regard to the committee with Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and other officials, the newspaper reported citing government sources.Modi had on November 11 in a meeting organised by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) in Hyderabad promised a committee, saying that it would look into the issue of Dalit sub-categorisation.The Dalit sub-group of Madigas constitute about 50% of the total Dalit population in the poll-bound state of Telangana. Dalits constitute 15% of the population in Telangana, which is going to polls on November 30.Since 1994, Madigas under the MRPS banner have been demanding sub-categorisation among Dalits to ensure various Dalit sub-groups receive reservation benefits proportionate to their population. The MRPS, led by Manda Krishna Madiga, has been of the view that nearly 80% of reservation benefits are being enjoyed by Malas, another dominant Dalit sub-group, at the cost of other more deprived Dalit sub-groups.Against this backdrop, Modi’s presence at the MRPS meeting in Hyderabad on November 11 assumes significance. “From today onwards, Manda Krishna, founder of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS), is my leader in the movement to end the decades of injustice being done to the community. I will be on his side till you all get justice,” Modi had said, addressing the MRPS meeting.According to the BJP, the move would help the party to woo the Madiga community, whose loyalties are now divided between the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress. Sources in the BJP told the Hindu that it would help the party to consolidate “three Ms” in Telangana: Madigas, Mudiraju, and Munnar Kapu communities. Mudiraju and Munnar Kapu are dominant Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state. The party expects dividends from the move for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll if not the upcoming Assembly election.In Telangana, the fight is principally between the ruling BRS and a resurgent Congress, although the BJP had been in the position of principal challenger a few months ago. The BJP has vowed to make an OBC as chief minister if it comes to power in the state. The 119 constituencies in the state will go to polls in a single phase on November 30.