The sooner the Revanth Reddy government moves forward with the conduct of panchayat elections in Telangana, the more it will delay. Even after one year of delay in holding elections, it is still unable to come to a decision on the timing.
Currently, the notification for the biennial elections to the Legislative Council has been issued in the state, and the entire process will continue till March 8. The final decision on BC reservations is expected to be taken only after the report of the Dedication Commission is received.
The government is making it clear that panchayat elections in the state will be held only after the BC reservations are finalized. For this, the draft details of the comprehensive caste survey undertaken by the state government will be received by the government in the next two days.
The officials will then submit the full report to the cabinet sub-committee by February 2. The sub-committee will meet immediately and discuss the report. Then the state cabinet will meet and discuss the issue of BC reservations and take a decision.
Later, a special assembly meeting will be convened and a resolution on BC reservations will be sent to the center. It seems that the government is planning to hold local body elections in the state after receiving a response from the center.
It is known that the Congress had promised during the 2023 assembly elections that once they come to power in the state, they will increase the reservation for BCs in local body elections to 42 percent.
In addition, the state government has announced that the four newly launched schemes will be provided to the eligible beneficiaries by the end of March. In this situation, there are indications that the delay in the issue of panchayat elections will continue.
Meanwhile, on February 1 last year, the term of the Sarpanchs ended and the special officers’ rule came. In two days, the special officers’ rule will complete a year. The Supreme Court has already ruled that reservations in local bodies should not exceed 50 percent.
On the other hand, 27 percent reservation has to be implemented for SCs and STs according to their population ratio. With this, only 23 percent reservation is being implemented for BCs. Now, based on the details of the caste survey, in order to implement 42 percent reservation for BCs, the total reservation will have to cross the 50 percent limit.
This requires approval from the Center. With this, it is reported that the state government will request the Center to give an opportunity to increase the reservation for BCs and to make a law in Parliament for this. If the Center does not accept this request, the state government’s stance on local elections has become a topic of discussion.
