Hyderabad: Telangana is all set to witness election fever as the state government has issued orders providing 42 per cent quota to backward classes (BCs) in the local body elections. In the Government Order No.9 issued on Friday, State Secretary to the BC Welfare Department J Buddha Prakash said that the government provided 42 per cent reservation of the seats in local bodies to BC communities.

State Panchayat Raj as well as Municipal Administration and Urban Development Departments have been asked to take necessary action to provide BC quota in the local bodies - gram panchayats, mandal parishads, zilla parishads and all municipal bodies in the state.

Following the orders on BC quota, the State Election Commission (SEC) summoned a meeting with state top authorities including Chief Secretary K Ramarkrishna Rao, DGP Jitendar and Secretaries of Panchayat Raj and Municipal Administration to review the government’s preparedness for the local body elections. After the meeting, the SEC will announce the schedule for the local body elections.

Officials said that the Panchayat Raj Department will submit the report of the allotment of words to BCs in villages and mandals. The SEC will also review the implementation of the BC quota as per the government order before issuing notification for the local body elections.

As the Telangana High Court had set a deadline of September 30 for completing the local body elections, officials said that the government will submit all the details of the implementation of the BC reservation, schedule for the local body elections and the government’s readiness to go for elections.

Sources said that the government will also explain to the High Court the necessity of issuing the GO for implementing 42 per cent BC quota after the state government’s request to approve two Bills to enhance the BC reservation were not accepted by the Union government. The Bills were forwarded to the Governor and are currently awaiting Presidential assent. The government would also submit the Bills adopted in the Assembly in support of the increase of the BC reservation to the court and seek the HC’s support to hold the local body elections without any hurdles.

On August 6 this year, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy led a protest at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding Presidential assent to the BC reservation Bills and alleged that the BJP-led central government was stalling them as it was ‘anti-OBC’. The ruling Congress had promised before the 2023 assembly polls to provide 42 per cent reservation to the BCs. Earlier they were given 23 per cent. Meanwhile, the state government has also issued comprehensive guidelines for the implementation of reservation in MPTC, ZPTC, MPP president and Zilla Parishad chairman polls. State Principal Secretary to Panchayat Raj Department N Sridhar said in the orders that the State Election Commission, Panchayat Raj Director and District Collectors should take necessary action for the implementation of the reservation in the local body elections.

As per the orders, BC are provided 42 per cent reservation by taking into consideration the recently conducted caste census data and SC and ST reservation will be implemented as per 2011 census.

The order also said that women reservation will be provided within the BC, SC and ST quota not exceeding 50 per cent among the particular communities.