KTR seeks Rahul Gandhi’s response on reducing BC reservation in panchayats
Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K. T. Rama Rao on Wednesday sought answers from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the reduction of reservation for backward classes in the upcoming Gram Panchayat elections in Telangana.
He wanted to know why the Congress government reduced the reservation for backward classes (BCs) from the earlier 24 percent to 17 percent and what happened to its promise of 42 percent reservation.
KTR, as the BRS leader is commonly known, used the ‘X’ to criticize the Congress party for reducing the BC quota in Gram Panchayats.
KTR wrote, “Hello Rahul Gandhi ji, you spoke very well about the Telangana caste census and called it a role model for other states. The Congress government spent Rs 160 crore on the promise of 42 percent reservation for the BC community. In the just-announced Panchayat elections, the BC community was given 17 percent (reduced from 24 percent)!!! Can you share your understanding of the huge amount of public money being wasted in this futile effort?”
The Telangana State Election Commission on Tuesday issued a notification for the Gram Panchayat elections to be held in three phases next month.
According to the notification, elections will be held for 12,728 Sarpanch posts and 1,12,242 wards on December 11, 14, and 17.
A total of 1.66 crore votes in rural areas are eligible to vote in these elections.
The SEC has provided 17.08 percent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in Gram Panchayats. Of the total 12,735 Gram Panchayats, 2,176 have been reserved for BCs.
Among the 31 districts where elections will be held, Siddipet has the highest number of BC reservations at 26,772. Bhadradri Kothagudem has no Gram Panchayat reserved for BCs.
The government had issued an order providing 42 percent reservation for BCs in local bodies, and based on this, an election notification was issued on September 29 for the elections to Gram Panchayats, Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs).
However, after the High Court struck down the government order, the election notification was suspended.
On November 17, the Telangana Cabinet decided to hold only Gram Panchayat elections in December, as the central grant of ₹3,000 crore will expire by March 31, 2026.
It was announced that the decision on holding elections for MPTCs, ZPTCs, and municipal corporations will be taken after the High Court’s final order on the 42 percent reservation for BCs.
As per the High Court’s interim order, local body elections will have to be held with a 50 percent limit on the total reservation for all categories.
