In the event the ordinance is struck down by the courts, the Congress is preparing to allocate at least 42 percent of seats in local bodies to candidates from BC communities anyway.
Published Jul 12, 2025 | 2:11 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 12, 2025 | 2:11 PM
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy
Synopsis: The Telangana government is rushing to issue an ordinance amending the Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, to raise Backward Class reservations in local body polls to 42 percent. The decision, taken by the state cabinet on 10 July, is likely to be formalised by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma by 14 July. The move is aimed at pre-empting any potential legal scrutiny before the election process begins.
The Congress-led Telangana government is moving swiftly to issue an ordinance amending the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, to provide 42 percent reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in the upcoming local body elections.
According to reliable sources, the ordinance is likely to be issued by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma by Monday, 14 July, after the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, took the formal decision to amend the Act at its meeting on 10 July.
With it, the government is hoping to pre-empt any potential legal challenges to the proposed hike, since raising BC reservations from the current 23 percent to 42 percent, along with the existing 10 percent quota for Economically Backward Classes (EBCs), would push total reservations to 70 percent, breaching the 50 percent ceiling set by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India (1992) judgment.
However, sources said the Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, allows the state to alter reservation quotas through executive authority, and that the government intends to use this provision to fulfil its electoral promise to BC communities.
The amendment is being brought in by invoking Rule 6 of Section 343-D of the Act, which states: “Nothing…shall prevent the legislature of a State from making any provision for the reservation of seats in any Panchayat or offices of Chairpersons of Panchayats at any level in favour of backward classes.”
Furthermore, the ruling party believes that once the election notification is issued, the courts cannot intervene, allowing the reservation policy to take effect without legal obstruction.
Accordingly, the government is preparing to give the State Election Commission the go-ahead to initiate the election process soon after the ordinance is promulgated. The election schedule is expected to be announced either by the end of July or in early August.
Unlike Assembly and Parliament elections, which require a 21-day process, local body elections can be completed within two weeks.
The current plan is to hold Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) elections first, followed by gram panchayat polls.
The Congress is reportedly keen to ensure that newly elected Zilla Parishad Chairpersons hoist the national flag at their respective offices on Independence Day, 15 August.
The Telangana High Court has already set a deadline of 30 September 2025 for conducting local body elections.
Meanwhile, in the event the ordinance is struck down by the courts, the Congress is preparing to allocate at least 42 percent of seats in local bodies to candidates from BC communities anyway.
This is seen as the second-best option available to the Congress, which had promised increased representation for backward classes in its “Kamareddy Declaration” made ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
Information and Public Relations Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy had earlier said the amendment was necessitated due to the delay in the central government’s approval to include two key reservation bills passed by the Telangana Legislative Assembly on 17 March 2025 in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
The two bills in question are: The Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in Services under the State) Bill, 2025, and The Telangana Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Rural and Urban Local Bodies) Bill, 2025.
Both have received assent from Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and are currently awaiting presidential approval.
The ordinance is being projected as the Congress party’s fulfilment of its Kamareddy Declaration promise, which was itself based on empirical data from the Telangana Social, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey, which found that BCs, including Muslim caste groups, constitute 56.33 percent of the state’s population.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
