Telangana government sets 34 per cent quota for BCs in panchayat elections

The ruling TRS, which has been gearing up for the gram panchayat elections in the state, has decided to bring an ordinance to overcome the glitch of 50 per cent cap on reservations.

Earlier, when the elections for gram panchayats were held in 2013 in the combined state of AP, the reservations were 60.55 per cent of the seats and offices for SCs, STs and BCs.

After a section of the people moved the Hyderabad High Court challenging the 60.55 per cent mark, it had directed the then AP government to fix the total reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes within 50 per cent. Against this the then AP government moved the Supreme Court which in turn stayed the High Court order.

Recently, when the Telangana state government moved an appeal against the High Court order not to cross the limit of 50 per cent reservations in panchayat polls, the apex court refused to accord the sanction. The TRS



government had proposed 34 per cent reservations to BCs, 24 per cent to SCs and 9 per cent to STs which add up to 67 per cent. 

If the state government follows the court order, the percentage of reservation for the BCs will have to be limited to 23 per cent and it may have an adverse impact on the ruling party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. 

Sources in the state government said that keeping in view of the situation, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao sought legal opinion and decided to issue the ordinance for providing a total of 67 per cent reservation for BCs, ST and SCs in the panchayat polls.

Sources also said that in order to help the state government bring out the ordinance, the authorities had asked the governor to issue a notification to prorogue the Legislative Council’s 10th session. The notification was issued on Saturday.