The Telangana Assembly has passed two Bills to enable a 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in local body elections, amending legislation that was originally passed in 2018.
The government had previously issued an ordinance to amend the Acts, which was then sent to the President by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma. The Assembly passed The Telangana Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025, and The Telangana Panchayat Raj (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025, after a brief discussion.
During the debate, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that according to a Telangana High Court order, polls for the local bodies must be held before September 30. He stressed that the Congress government is determined to hold elections only after implementing the 42 pc quota for BCs. Reddy also blamed former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for not increasing the BC quota, stating that the 2018 Panchayat Raj Act, passed during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi rule, does not allow for a quota increase beyond 50 per cent.
The Chief Minister questioned why the BRS did not support the dharna (protest) held at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi earlier this month, which had demanded that the union government approve the BC quota Bills pending with the President of India. He called this a clear sign of the BRS's lack of sincerity in increasing the BC quota.
Reddy explained that the BC quota was approved in a cabinet meeting before a resolution was adopted in the Assembly. "We sent two separate Bills to the Governor to provide a 42 pc quota in education, empowerment and local bodies. The two Bills have been pending with the President for the last five months," he said. He added that some "forces" had approached the High Court regarding the local body elections, and the court had ordered the election before September 30. Reddy also said that the government had appointed the Dedication Commission only after reviewing the legal issues and that the entire Caste Census process began on February 4, 2024, and was completed a year later. "We worked diligently to enact a law for the BC quota with a deadline of 365 days," he added.
Telangana Minister Ponnal Prabhakar said that the Bills replace the ordinance issued earlier and that it is a standard parliamentary procedure to convert an ordinance into a Bill when the House is in session. He noted that the Congress had promised to increase BC reservations in local bodies from 23 pc to 42 pc during the 2023 assembly polls.
TPCC President Mahesh Kumar Goud expressed his satisfaction with the unanimous resolution passed in the Assembly, which removes the 50 per cent cap on reservations and provides 42 per cent reservations for BCs. He thanked the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka for passing the Bills, and expressed hope that society would "wholeheartedly welcome" these measures.
Also read: Over 1,000 rescued as Telangana hit by floods, IMD issues alert
Follow us
