With local body elections expected in the last week of December, the Telangana government is gearing up to give significantly higher political representation to the Backward Classes (BCs), especially the Most Backward Classes (MBCs).
Senior officials said the government wants to ensure that the MBC communities, traditionally underrepresented in elected bodies, get their rightful share this time. An indication of this is the discussion on the Dedicated Commission report in the recent Cabinet which demanded a detailed report on the political representation of various Backward Class (BC) communities. The government also asked the Commission for a new report to proceed with the elections and it was submitted a few days ago.
A dedicated commission is tasked with studying caste demographic details and the government plans to use the data to accurately assess the political representation of the MBC and fill gaps within the Congress party.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has already taken a firm stand that 42% of local body posts will be reserved for BCs by the party, due to constitutional restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court’s 50% ceiling. It is reportedly keen to ensure that MBCs get significant opportunities under this allocation, which officials believe could effectively bring BC representation closer to the 50% mark.
The urgency with which the State Election Commission (SEC) has sped up preparations also suggests that the sarpanch elections will be held in December. The State Election Commissioner conducted a comprehensive review in which Chief Secretary A. Ramakrishna Rao, Director General of Police Shivadhar Reddy and senior officials participated. Discussions focused on key aspects of the electoral process, including objections to the voter list, the layout of polling stations, reservation procedures and the overall legal order.
A day earlier, the SEC had also released a plan to publish electoral rolls for all gram panchayats. District Panchayat Officers (DPOs) have been instructed to scrutinize the existing electoral rolls and correct any incorrect mapping. They have been instructed to re-publish the updated photo electoral rolls.
The SEC requires requests and objections to be dealt with by the relevant data protection officers by November 22nd, and the final re-publication of the updated photo electoral rolls to be completed by November 23rd. Polling stations will also be updated based on voter strength.
Published – 21 Nov 2025 20:50 IST
