Telangana passes bills that pave way for 42% reservation to Backward Classes in local polls

The Telangana government on Sunday passed two bills to lift the 50% ceiling on caste-based reservations in local bodies, reported The Hindu. The move has paved the way for 42% reservations to Backward Classes in local body polls.

The 2025 Telangana Municipalities Third Amendment Bill and the 2025 Telangana Panchayat Raj Third Amendment Act were passed by the Assembly amid questions by the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

This lifted the 50% ceiling on reservations set by the Supreme Court in 1992, bringing the total quotas for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Bakcward Classes in Telangana to 67%.

The draft legislations on Sunday came at a time when two other bills passed in March on increasing reservations for education, government jobs and local bodies have been awaiting the president’s assent.

In the Assembly on Sunday, the ruling Congress and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi blamed each other for the enhanced reservation for Backward Classes not being implemented, The News Minute reported.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that the Telangana High Court had directed that elections for local bodies should be held before September 30, PTI reported. He said that the Congress government was determined to go to the polls only after implementing the 42% quota to Backward Classes.

Reddy also criticised the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government in the...

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