Municipal Chairman Kuna Vanitha and Nirmala Jayaprakash Reddy during a victory rally in Sangareddy on Monday. | Photo credit: MOHD ARIF
The election of mayors and chairpersons in 116 municipalities and 7 municipal corporations in Telangana marked a watershed moment for women’s political participation, with women emerging as a dominant force across urban local bodies.
From city corporations to municipalities, women have not only benefited from legal reservations but have also turned electoral opportunity into political authority, reshaping the profile of leadership in urban Telangana.
Of the seven municipal corporations that went to polls in the state, three mayoral posts were reserved for women and significantly, all the women mayors belong to the Congress, underscoring the overwhelming dominance of the party.
Also from a caste point of view, the posts of mayors reflected a broad social spread. Of the seven mayor posts, three were reserved for women and one each for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) categories. Among them, women held two unreserved (women) and one BC mayor (women) position.
The most striking impact of women’s participation was visible at the municipal level. Out of 116 chairmen, 30 were in unreserved category, 16 in BC, 7 in SC and two in ST categories. Among them, at least 60 were held by women, 55 through reserved seats for women and five other women elected to general seats so far. This meant that women filled more than half of all municipal chairmanships, a rare milestone in Telangana’s civic politics.
Combining the corporations and municipalities, Telangana has 123 executive posts (mayors and chairmen). Women make up at least 63 of them, in addition to at least 11 positions at the deputy level (including deputy mayors and vice-presidents). However, this number may increase as 11 municipalities go to the polls tomorrow.
Party-wise, the Congress dominated in all categories with 86 leadership posts, followed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi with 18, Bharatiya Janata Party (2), Independents (4), CPI (1) and AIFB (1).
The important thing is that 100% of the posts of female mayors went to Congress. The Congress secured the posts of mayors in Mahabubnagar, Mancherial, Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Ramagundam, while the BJP won Karimnagar and the Communist Party of India captured Kothagudem in alliance with the Congress.
Yet among them, only the Congress-led corporations saw women at the top. Districts such as Nalgonda, Yadadri Bhongir, Khammam and Sangareddy reported a particularly high number of female village heads.
Published – 16 Feb 2026 21:27 IST