The Supreme Court has admitted a petition challenging the upcoming local body elections in Telangana due to uncertainty surrounding the implementation of a new 42% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The court is scheduled to hear the plea on Monday, October 6, before Justice Vikram Nath.
The Legal Challenge and Quota Dispute
- The Petitioner: Vanga Gopal Reddy filed the petition, challenging the Telangana High Court’s September 27 order. That order permitted the State Election Commission (SEC) to announce the election schedule while deferring a hearing on the quota extension until October 8.
- The Quota Issue: The Telangana Congress government recently issued an administrative order mandating 42% reservations for OBCs in local elections. However, a bill passed by the state legislature to formalize this quota is still awaiting approval from Governor Jishnu Dev Varma.
- Petitioner’s Argument: Reddy argues that the elections cannot proceed without verifying the legal validity of the 42% quota. He contends that this percentage potentially defies the Supreme Court’s previous ruling that reservations should not exceed 50%.
Election Schedule Announced
Based on the government’s administrative order, the SEC announced the schedule for rural local body elections on September 29:
- Phases: Elections will be held in five phases between October 9 and November 11.
- Model Code of Conduct (MCC): The MCC is already in effect in all districts except Hyderabad.
- Polling Dates: The nomination process for Phase I begins on October 9, with polling on October 23. The final phase of polling will be held on November 8.
- Counting: Counting for Gram Panchayats (sarpanches and ward members) will occur on the polling day. Counting for MPTC and ZPTCs will be held on November 11.
Parties Finalize Candidate Selection
Despite the legal challenge looming, all major political parties in Telangana are finalizing their strategies and candidates:
- Congress: The Pradesh Congress Committee has instructed district units to shortlist and send three prospective names for every seat by Sunday. Candidate selection will be finalized by the high command after ground-level surveys.
- BJP: Telangana BJP president N Ramachander Rao also directed party leaders to finalize three names for each seat by Sunday. The state committee will select candidates for Zilla Parishad seats, and district committees will handle Mandal Parishad seats.
- BRS: Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) working president K T Rama Rao instructed his party cadre to prepare appropriately for the local body elections, with candidate selection expected to be completed by next week.