Telangana Cabinet Poised to Decide on Local Body Polls Amid Reservation Row and Court Deadlines

Hyderabad, Nov 2025 : The Telangana Cabinet is expected to take a crucial decision on Monday regarding the long-pending local body elections, following a recent directive from the High Court instructing the state government to announce the poll schedule by November 24. The matter has gained urgency as various legal and political developments have placed pressure on the government to proceed with the elections without further delay.

The issue stems from the state government’s earlier decision to enhance reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) to 42 per cent in local bodies. Both the High Court and the Supreme Court, however, set aside the government order, ruling that the enhanced quota exceeded the overall 50 per cent reservation cap mandated by the Supreme Court. As a result, the state must now conduct local body elections within the existing cap.

Despite the setback, the Congress government is considering allocating 42 per cent of its electoral tickets to BC candidates to reaffirm its political commitment to the community. While the courts have blocked the enhanced reservation, they also clarified that the elections may proceed with the existing reservation structure, which currently provides 27 per cent reservation to BCs.

Various BC groups, however, continue to demand that elections be postponed until the enhanced 42 per cent reservation is legally approved. They argue that proceeding without the increased quota would amount to a denial of political justice for BC communities. This has created a political dilemma for the state government, which must balance judicial direction, legal limitations, and community expectations.

The issue gained further prominence after the Congress secured victory in the Jubilee Hills Assembly by-election. Speaking after the win, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said that the Cabinet would deliberate on the matter and take an appropriate decision. In preparation, Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao directed the Panchayat Raj department to prepare a detailed note on the procedural steps required to initiate the election process.

The legal challenge began on October 9 when the High Court stayed the implementation of the enhanced BC reservation. The state government appealed to the Supreme Court, but the apex court refused to interfere with the High Court’s interim order. Both courts, however, left open the option for the state to go ahead with local body elections under the 50 per cent reservation limit.

The government order issued on September 26 had pushed total reservations to 67 per cent, far exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling established by the Supreme Court’s landmark judgments. To support the enhanced reservation, the Telangana Assembly had passed the Telangana Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Telangana Panchayat Raj (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 on August 31. Both bills aimed to raise BC quota in local bodies to 42 per cent by removing the overall reservation cap. However, by the time the High Court intervened, both bills were still awaiting the Governor’s approval.

The State Election Commission (SEC) had already issued a notification for rural local body elections in five phases. However, the SEC was forced to suspend the schedule after the High Court struck down the increased BC reservation, leaving the election process in a state of uncertainty.

Conducting local body elections is critical for the Congress government, not only for democratic functioning but also because Central grants to local bodies have been withheld due to the absence of elected representatives. This poses a serious challenge to governance, especially in rural regions where development projects rely heavily on these funds.

The reservation issue has dominated Telangana politics over the past several months, particularly after the government decided to increase BC quota in education, employment, and local governance based on the caste survey findings. The move was a key poll promise made by the Congress during the 2023 Assembly elections, making its implementation politically significant.

With judicial deadlines nearing and political stakes intensifying, the Cabinet’s decision on Monday is expected to shape the trajectory of local governance and BC empowerment in Telangana in the months ahead.