The polls for MPTCs, ZTPCs and municipal bodies will be conducted after the resolution of the lingering legal controversy over 42 percent reservations for BCs.
Published Nov 18, 2025 | 9:36 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 18, 2025 | 9:36 AM
File photo of voters in Telangana. (Supplied)
Synopsis: While the Telangana government decided to conduct the gram panchayat elections, the polls for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies, Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies and municipal bodies will be conducted after the resolution of the legal controversy over 42 percent reservations for BCs.
The Telangana government has decided to conduct the gram panchayat elections very soon. The polls for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies, Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies and municipal bodies will be conducted after the resolution of the lingering legal controversy over 42 percent reservations for Backward Classes (BCs).
The Telangana Cabinet, which met at the state secretariat on Monday, 17 November under the chairmanship of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, decided this effect.
The decision comes after a protracted legal battle that has kept local body elections in limbo for quite a long time. The Congress government, which came to power in December 2023, promising enhanced social justice, had moved a Bill in the Assembly to provide 42 percent reservation to BCs in local bodies — a significant jump from the earlier 25 percent.
The legislation was passed, but remained pending with the Governor, who then referred it to the Union government. The state government later brought a Government Order (GO) hiking reservation for BCs to 42 percent, but the Telangana High Court stayed it.
Briefing the media after the nearly three-hour Cabinet meeting, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, along with Ministers Adluri Laxman Kumar and Government Advisor Mohammed Shabbir Ali, explained that the Cabinet went over the entire sequence of events.
“The government remains fully committed to the 42 percent BC reservation. We have made sincere, multi-pronged efforts and will continue our legal battle in the courts,” Ponguleti asserted, adding that the State cannot afford further delay in local body elections.
A major concern highlighted during the discussions was the potential loss of nearly ₹3,000 crore in grants tied to the 15th Finance Commission awards, which are contingent upon the timely conduct of local body polls. “Taking into account the observations of the courts and the financial implications for the State, the Cabinet has resolved to go ahead with gram panchayat elections immediately,” the ministers said.
The State Election Commission (SEC) is now expected to notify the election schedule within days, with the model code of conduct likely to come into force across rural Telangana soon.
As the Gram Panchayat election process is set to roll out, political activity is expected to intensify across rural Telangana in the coming weeks. The Congress, BJP, BRS, and other parties have already begun internal preparations, aware that performance in these grassroots polls will be seen as a litmus test ahead of future electoral battles.
Marking the completion of two years of the Congress’s “People’s Government,” the Cabinet approved the organisation of the “Telangana Rising Global Summit” on 8 and 9 December at the upcoming Fourth City (Mucherla) IT and emerging technologies hub.
The two-day summit is expected to showcase investment opportunities and position Telangana as a global investment destination. On 9 December, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy will release the “Telangana Rising 2047 Vision Document,” a comprehensive roadmap outlining the State’s development goals for the next two decades.
The Cabinet observed a minute’s silence and paid rich tributes to legendary lyricist and people’s poet Ande Sri, who passed away recently. Recalling his immense contribution to Telugu literature and the Telangana statehood movement, the Cabinet resolved to print the state anthem “Jaya Jayahe Telangana Jananidhi,” penned by Ande Sri, on the first page of all school textbooks across the state.
In a gesture of gratitude, the government decided to appoint Ande Sri’s son, Datta Sai, as a lecturer in a government degree college. The site where the poet was cremated will be developed into a memorial park.
In another citizen-centric decision, the Cabinet cleared the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Welfare Bill, which aims to provide social security, health insurance, and accident coverage to delivery personnel, cab drivers, and other gig economy workers. The Bill will be introduced and passed in the winter session of the Assembly.
Responding to long-pending public demand, the Cabinet approved the renaming of the Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP) Main Canal after former minister and veteran Congress leader Ramreddy Damodar Reddy, who played a pivotal role in the project’s conceptualisation and execution.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
