Many ministers are of the view that the chief minister should have consulted them on the possible implications if the government fails to fulfil its promise of increased BC reservations.
Published Oct 01, 2025 | 1:21 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 01, 2025 | 1:21 PM
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy alongside other ministers.
Synopsis: Ministers in the Revanth Reddy government in Telangana are seething with anger and visibly upset over the “unilateral” decision by the chief minister in deciding the local body polls schedule without consulting any of them. Many ministers are of the view that the chief minister should have consulted them on the possible implications if the government fails to fulfil its promise of increased BC reservations.
Is the issue of increased reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) turning out to be a millstone around the neck of the ruling Congress in Telangana?
The current situation suggests a repeat of the 9 December 2009 moment for the Telangana Congress. It was at the stroke of midnight on that day that the Congress central leadership announced its intent to create a separate state of Telangana, only to pickle it for four years.
However, those four years made the grand old party pay a heavy price — losing both the 2014 and 2018 polls despite granting statehood in 2014. It took 10 years for Congress to taste power in a state created by it.
Having brought the BC reservation issue to the fore at the instance of its central leadership, essentially for grandstanding at the national level, the Telangana Congress leaders are now deeply worried it could boomerang, and badly too.
If the BC Ministers are concerned that failure to implement the enhanced reservation could hit them hard in the ensuing local body elections, other ministers believe that the move distanced the forward communities, particularly Reddys, from the Congress.
The State Election Commission (SEC) held a press conference on Monday, 29 September, stating that the notification for local body elections will be issued on 9 October and the same will be conducted in multiple phases.
However, there is uncertainty over the entire exercise. Just a day before the SEC press conference, the Telangana High Court deferred its order on a petition challenging the grant of 42 percent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) by way of a Government Order (GO) to 8 October.
This was because an ordinance and a bill providing for the same are pending with the Governor and the President of India, respectively.
The question is whether the GO will stand legal scrutiny. If the remarks passed by a high court bench on 28 September are any indication, it might not pass the legal eye. “How can you issue a GO when a bill and ordinance are pending approval?” the high court asked, seeking to know why the polls could not be postponed.
Ministers belonging to BC communities, who confabulated at the residence of BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Tuesday, are apparently worried about the implications if the high court strikes down the GO. In such an event, the option before the government is to go by the previous reservation for BCs (23%), appeal in the Supreme Court against the high court order or postpone the elections.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Mahesh Kumar Goud, himself a BC, was also present at the meeting.
“Opposition parties are already accusing us of lacking commitment to implement 42 percent reservations or BCs. If we fail to implement it and still go ahead with polls, the backlash will be difficult to face. As it is, members of the forward Reddy community are unhappy over the enhanced reservation for BCs. If we fail to satisfy the BCs too, both the Reddys and the backward classes will go against us,” a minister lamented.
Many ministers are of the view that the chief minister should have consulted them on the possible implications if the government fails to fulfil its promise of increased BC reservations before going ahead with advising the SEC to hold the polls.
“How can we face the people. They are not going to trust us anymore. The reservation has become a double-edged sword, much like the 2009 Telangana statehood announcement. We have fired a bullet which is going to hit us and not the Opposition. It’s akin to riding a tiger without knowing how to get off. Having campaigned all over the nation on how the Congress is committed to political empowerment of BCs, we do not know how to make it a reality,” a minister told South First.
What has compounded the worry of ministers, on whom falls the burden of ensuring victory for the ruling party, is reports emanating from the ground which suggest that the mood is not in favour of Congress.
“Though supply of fine rice and issue of new ration cards has created some positive impact, acute shortage of urea and pending pre-poll promises are weighing on the minds of people,” a Congress leader admitted.
The only hope that Congress leaders have is the general trend of people preferring the ruling party in a local body election, anticipating that it would help in the development of their villages/mandals. However, whether the negatives outweigh this consideration if the people decide to teach the Congress a lesson or two is the question.
Those privy to Revanth’s thinking suggest that in the case of the high court striking down the GO, the government might not go ahead with the election itself.
They may prefer to approach the Supreme Court and thereby buy time to postpone the elections until January next year, by which time the government would like to remit another instalment of Rythu Bharosa (financial assistance to farmers), and thereby turn the current negativity into some sort of a positive mood.
Politically looking at it, critics of the Congress point out that the whole exercise is intended to reap benefits in the ensuing Bihar election by highlighting how the Congress wanted to give 42 percent reservation to BCs in Telangana and the way the BJP stalled it by keeping the ordinance and bill pending.
The Opposition believes this is a “drama” being enacted since Revanth and his government are fully aware that the hiked reservation cannot be implemented.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
