A BRS candidate campaigning for the upcoming Telangana municipal elections in Sangareddy on Sunday. | Photo credit: MOHD. ARIF
The list of candidates for the upcoming municipal elections in Telangana reveals a remarkable demographic pattern: women not only make up a substantial proportion, but the overwhelming majority of them are married.
A scan of the official list of the State Election Commission shows that there are a total of 6877 women in the electoral fray across the districts. This makes women a formidable presence in the upcoming polls, reflecting the deepening impact of reservation policies for women in local government.
The majority of 6,184 candidates are married, which represents almost 90% of all women in the competition. The dominance of married women reflects long-standing social patterns in local bodies where political visibility and eligibility are often correlated with age, family responsibilities and community acceptance.
Only a small fraction of contestants fall into the “single” category, while a significant number have a blank space on their marital status record.
District-wise breakdown shows Sangareddy district topping the list with 564 women contestants, followed by Karimnagar (403) and Nizamabad (379). Districts like Mulugu (46) and Hanamkonda (11) are at the bottom of the list and this could be due to the small size of the districts.
A BJP candidate campaigning for the upcoming Telangana municipal elections in Sangareddy. | Photo credit: MOHD. ARIF
The reservation matrix underlines the influence of women from the general category and backward classes in the struggle. There are 3,569 women in the fray in the open category (referred to as the unreserved category), including women from all social groups.
As many as 1,612 women candidates are on seats reserved for women from Backward Classes, while 816 are in the fray among Scheduled Castes and 154 among Scheduled Tribes. This confirms that the majority of women are contesting from the reserved women’s departments, which again confirms the role of politics in strengthening the representation of women.
Gender-neutral general category wards like UR(G) and BC(G) together have only 493 women, suggesting that open competition wards still remain male-dominated. Married women, especially in the 30-55 age group, seem to be the backbone of political engagement.
According to the party analysis, the Congress stands first with 1,650 women candidates, closely followed by the BRS with 1,585 women candidates. Independents are third with 1,467, while the BJP has fielded 1,420 women. Smaller parties like AIMIM (149), JSP (142) and AIFB (138) contribute modestly to the total numbers.
Congress candidate campaigning for the upcoming Telangana municipal elections in Sangareddy. | Photo credit: MOHD. ARIF
The statistics also show that the major parties fielded female candidates with a predictable emphasis on reserved wards for women. Consolidated data from the State Election Commission paints a picture of expanding women’s participation in civic politics, though it is still fueled by reservation-driven entry points.
Published – 08 Feb 2026 19:46 IST