Local Body Polls: Govt to wait till SC verdict on BC quota

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government has approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict on 34 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in local body elections and has decided to seek a hold on the election process until the apex court gives its verdict.

Municipal administration and urban development minister P Narayana said on Saturday that the government would request the Supreme Court to take up the matter on an expedited basis and would ask the State Election Commission (SEC) not to issue the election notification until the case was decided.

The government’s move assumes significance as it had repeatedly announced that elections to local bodies would be completed by October or November. The latest decision to defer the notification pending the Supreme Court’s ruling has therefore triggered discussion in political circles.

Speaking in Rajahmundry, Narayana said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had directed the government to approach the Supreme Court and that the appeal had already been filed. “We intend to resolve this issue in the Supreme Court before proceeding with the local body elections. We will also request the Court to expedite the judgment,” he said.

The High Court had directed the State government and the State Election Commission to initiate the election process within six weeks. The terms of several local bodies had expired in March and April 2026. The SEC had also undertaken preparatory work, including ward delimitation and preparation of electoral rolls.

The government is now attempting to balance the legal challenge over BC reservations with the financial implications of delaying elections. Narayana said elections had to be conducted for 123 municipalities and warned that failure to hold them could affect funds under the 16th Finance Commission.

He said the previous government had failed to conduct elections to 23 municipalities, resulting in the loss of the entire 15th Finance Commission allocation for those municipalities. Under the 15th Finance Commission, Rs 5,200 crore had been sanctioned to the state, he said.

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