E-Paper
Over 60% elected councillors from OBC, says T’gana backward classes body chief
Over 61% of Telangana municipal election winners are OBC candidates, exceeding the proposed 42% reservation, reflecting increased OBC awareness.
More than 61% candidates winning the Telangana municipal elections are from the other backward classes (OBC), the Telangana state backward classes commission (TSBCC) said. This comes in the backdrop of the state government hitting a roadblock in implementing a 42% reservation to the OBCs in the local bodies.
“The OBCs have won more than 61% overall in the recently held municipal elections in the state, which is 19% more than the 42% quota proposed to be implemented by the state government,” Telangana BC Commission chairman G Niranjan said.
For the last one year, the Congress government led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy made every effort to provide 42% reservations to the OBCs in local bodies. It began with the conduct of caste census, followed by appointment of a dedicated commission to decide the OBC reservations in local bodies, passage of bills in the state assembly on 42% OBC quota.
When the bills were pending with the Centre for approval, the Revanth Reddy government even issued an ordinance to implement the quota, but it was struck down by the high court and finally in the Supreme Court. The chief minister even led a protest in New Delhi to bring pressure on the Centre to approve the bills through a Constitutional amendment.
With all his attempts failing to yield any results, the state government went ahead with gram panchayat elections, followed by municipal elections with the old quota of 25% for the OBCs. However, Revanth Reddy announced that the Congress would implement a 42% quota for OBCs in the issuance of party tickets in the elections.
With the Congress taking the initiative to implement the OBC quota at the party level, the other parties like Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were also compelled to recalibrate their candidate selection strategies to remain electorally competitive.
As a result, OBC representation among candidates and winners exceeded expectations. G Niranjan pointed out that even in the gram panchayat elections held in December, OBC candidates won 52.75% even in general seats. “It is a clear indication of the increased awareness among OBC communities,” Niranjan said.
Out of 116 municipalities that went to polls, 11 municipalities were reserved for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST). Of the remaining 105 municipalities, OBC candidates have been elected as chairpersons in 64 municipalities. Similarly in 41% of municipalities, OBCs have been elected as vice-chairpersons. (Please give an attribution to this data; has this data been taken from the state election commission?)
Similarly, out of seven municipal corporations that went to polls, four corporations have witnessed OBCs getting elected as mayors, Niranjan said. “Taking into account the number of wards in all the municipalities and municipal corporations, 55% of the newly elected ward members are from OBCs,” he added.
The latest elections have also witnessed a surge in women’s representation. In the local bodies, women have been enjoying one-third quota, though they have been demanding 50%. “Women candidates not only secured seats in reserved constituencies but also contested and won in general (unreserved) seats typically dominated by male candidates,” political analyst Srinivasa Rao Manchala pointed out.
Overall, women secured approximately 62% of seats in several municipal bodies, around 12% higher than the quota they are demanding, he said.
The TSBCC chairman expressed hope that there will be a similar pattern in the upcoming elections to zilla parishads and mandal parishads in the state, besides the trifurcated Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
“Considering the seats won by OBCs in the recently held panchayat elections and the municipal elections, we wish that the Centre grants approval for the implementation of 42% reservations, by including it in the 9th Schedule,” Niranjan said, and requested those who have filed cases in the courts to withdraw the same make a smooth way for the implementation of the 42% reservation.
