Telangana HC stays local polls with 42% BC quota
Telangana high court stays local body elections and 42% OBC reservations, demanding state response within four weeks amid protests from OBC leaders.
The Telangana high court on Thursday ordered an interim stay on the conduct of local body elections in the state with 42% reservations to the other backward classes, hours after the state election commission (SEC) issued notification commencing the process of the first phase of elections.
People familiar with the matter said a division bench of the high court comprising chief justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and justice GM Mohiuddin also stayed the government order issued on September 26 providing 42% reservations to the OBCs in the local bodies.
Allowing the batch of petitions filed challenging the 42% reservations to the backward classes in the elections and after hearing at length the petitioners and the state counsels, the bench asked the state government to file a counter affidavit within four weeks.
It also asked the petitioners to file objections within two weeks after receiving the government’s counter. The bench allowed all impleaded petitions and posted the next hearing for six weeks.
In the morning, the SEC issued the notification for the first phase of elections to zilla parishad and mandal parishad territorial constituencies to be held on October 23, followed by the second phase on October 27. The nomination process began soon after the notification, but before any candidate filed their nominations, the high court granted the stay on the conduct of elections.
For the two consecutive days, the high court heard extensive arguments regarding OBC reservations in the local bodies. On Thursday, state advocate general A Sudarshan Reddy argued that the Telangana assembly had unanimously passed a resolution in favour of conducting a caste census, marking the first comprehensive survey since Independence.
He informed the court that door-to-door data collection had been conducted, and no objections were raised at that time. “According to the survey findings, OBCs constitute 57.6% of the state’s population and state assembly unanimously approved a bill to provide 42% reservation to BCs in local body elections,” the advocate general said, adding that the assembly recognized the political underrepresentation of OBCs in Telangana.
Another advocate Ravi Varma, arguing for the government, said there was no constitutional ceiling of 50% on reservations. He pointed out that SCs, STs, and OBCs together form 85% of the state’s population, yet the combined reservation for them amounts to only 67% (including the proposed 42% for OBCs).
He argued that 15% of the population still enjoys 33% open-category representation, suggesting that the state’s move was proportionate and justified.
After hearing the arguments, the bench issued interim orders staying the government order and suspended its implementation pending further hearings.
Reacting to the judgement, state backward classes welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the government had gone systematically before providing 42% quota to the OBCs.
“We conducted a caste survey, appointed a dedicated commission, formed a sub-committee, obtained cabinet approval, passed legislation in the assembly, and sent it to the governor for assent. We also amended the Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 to enhance the OBC quota in local bodies,” Prabhakar said.
He said the inordinate delay in the conduct of local body elections would deprive the state of central funds. “We did not expect the high court to issue a stay,” the minister said and asserted that the government was committed to providing 42% reservations for OBCs.
Following the stay order, leaders of various backward classes organizations staged a protest outside the high court, raising slogans and squatting on the road in protest.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajya Sabha member and president of National BC Welfare Association R Krishnaiah told reporters that the high court’s decision had denied OBCs their legitimate share in power in the local bodies.
“The government’s hasty approach has resulted in injustice to OBCs,” he said, warning that a statewide bandh would be announced if the government’s response remained unsatisfactory.
He further alleged that some people were unable to tolerate OBCs gaining prominence or holding key positions, asserting that BCs would soon demonstrate their political strength and unity.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi lawmaker and former minister T Harish Rao said the high court’s decision granting stay on the government order on OBC quota clearly exposed the drama of the Congress to hoodwink the OBCs in the local bodies.
“Instead of fighting with the Centre and getting the OBC quota implemented through a Constitutional amendment, the Revanth Reddy government enacted a big drama by issuing a government order knowing fully well that it would not stand the legal scrutiny,” Harish Rao said.
He demanded that the Congress involve all the political parties to fight with the Centre in New Delhi for securing 42% quota for OBCs.
