Telangana to go ahead with local body polls with 42% BC quota, Azharuddin nominated to council

Hyderabad: The Telangana government will introduce the Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2025 during the monsoon sessions of the Legislative Assembly that began on Saturday. The state cabinet, which met on Saturday in the assembly committee hall, decided to conduct the local body polls with 42 per cent reservations to Bcs and taken the decision to introduce the Bill in this regard.

The Congress government in Telangana is seeking to amend Section 285A of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, which currently maintains a 50per cent ceiling on vertical reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Backward Classes (BCs) in local self-governments.

The proposed amendment will pave the way for implementing reservations beyond the existing 50 per cent cap, thus enabling the Revanth Reddy government to implement its proposal to provide 42 per cent reservations to BCs in local bodies.

The amendment to Section 285A would allow the cap to be exceeded under exceptional circumstances, supported by empirical data on demographic and socioeconomic conditions, political backwardness, and inadequate representation. The government has already conducted a comprehensive survey to determine the percentage composition of various caste groups across the state.

"The state cabinet today decided to conduct the local body elections in the state providing 42 per cent reservations to the BCs. In this regard, we are introducing the Panchayat Raj Amendment Bill in the current assembly sessions to pave the way for providing 42 per cent reservations to BCs. This decision we have taken based on the empirical data collected in the statewide survey and after consulting legal experts," said state transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar.

The state cabinet also decided to nominate Prof Kodandaram and former cricketer and party leader Mohammad Azharuddin to the Legislative Council under the Governor's Quota. On August 13, the Supreme Court stayed the earlier appointments of Prof Kodandaram and journalist Amer Ali Khan to the Council.

While the Congress government chose to re nominate Prof Kodandaram, Azharuddin was picked to replace Ali Khan. Azharuddin contested the last Assembly election from Jubilee Hills on a Congress ticket but was defeated by the late Maganti Gopinath of BRS. Following Gopinath's passing recently, there was speculation that Azharuddin might be fielded in the upcoming bypoll on a Congress ticket. With his inclusion under the Governor's Quota, Azharuddin is now ruled out as a Congress candidate for the Jubilee Hills bypoll.