Telangana recently completed municipal elections across seven municipal corporations and 116 municipalities. Prior to that, panchayat elections were concluded in December.
The ruling Congress party performed strongly in both the panchayat and municipal elections, reportedly securing more than 80 percent of the seats.
After winning hands down in the panchayat elections and municipal elections in Telangana, everybody, including the Congress party leaders, have thought chief minister A Revanth Reddy will go ahead with the pending Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) elections at the earliest.
Even the state Congress party leadership is said to be keen on holding the remaining local body elections soon, as the party is at advantage. At the grassroots level, several political aspirants and local leaders are also pressing for early elections, hoping to capitalise on the current political climate.
In fact, even the state election commission (SEC) has begun the preparations for the conduct of MPTC and ZPTC elections in the state and was awaiting a nod from the state government.
All the political parties and their ticket aspirants across the state have been eagerly awaiting an announcement on the schedule for these polls. There was a leak from the Congress party that the elections might be held in March, before the commencement of the budget session.
However, a key update has emerged suggesting that the elections may be delayed until clarity is obtained on the issue of Backward Classes (BC) reservations.
According to sources, the chief minister has decided that the MPTC and ZPTC elections will be conducted only after the issue of BC reservations is resolved. The state government is reportedly keen on ensuring that the promised reservation framework is in place before proceeding with the local body elections.
The Congress government had earlier promised to provide 42 percent reservation for Backward Classes in local bodies. A bill to this effect has already been drafted and forwarded to the Centre for approval, where it is currently pending.
In view of this, the state government is believed to be considering conducting the elections only after the Union government takes a final decision on the BC reservation bill. The issue reportedly came up for discussion during the state Cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat on Monday.
Sources indicate that the chief minister informed his Cabinet colleagues that since the Assembly resolution and the BC reservation bill have already been sent to the Centre, the state should wait for a decision before proceeding with the MPTC and ZPTC elections.
Until clarity emerges on the reservation issue, the government is inclined to hold off on announcing the poll schedule. The ministers are said to have responded positively to the chief minister’s stance.
As a result, there are currently no indications that the MPTC and ZPTC elections will be conducted in the immediate future, according to government sources.