Telangana Election Commission Halts Notification for Local Body Elections
SEC halts the five-phase rural local body elections following Telangana High Court’s stay on 42% reservation for Backward Classes.
Telangana, Oct 10 : In a significant development, the Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday night suspended the notification for local body elections following the Telangana High Court’s interim stay on the state government’s order providing 42 per cent reservation to Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies.
The suspension came just hours after the High Court stayed both the Government Order (GO) and the SEC’s election notification, putting the entire rural poll process on hold until further notice.
State Election Commissioner Rani Kumudini announced that the notification for elections to Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) and Gram Panchayats has been kept in abeyance until further orders.
The division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin issued the stay order after a two-day hearing on petitions challenging the enhanced BC reservation. The bench adjourned the matter for six weeks, directing the state government and SEC to file detailed counter-affidavits within four weeks, while granting the petitioners two weeks to submit their rejoinders.
The SEC had issued its notification on September 29, scheduling the rural local body elections in five phases between October and November. The process of filing nominations for the first phase had commenced earlier on Thursday.
As per the original schedule, elections to MPTCs and ZPTCs were to be held on October 23 and 27, while Gram Panchayat polls were planned in three phases on October 31, November 4, and November 8. More than 1.67 crore voters were eligible to participate in these elections.
The High Court’s decision came after the state government, on September 26, issued a GO implementing 42 per cent BC reservation in local bodies, even as two related Bills—Telangana Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025, and Telangana Panchayat Raj (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025—awaited the Governor’s approval.
These Bills, passed by the Assembly on August 31, sought to enhance BC reservation beyond the 50 per cent cap for all categories. A similar proposal had been cleared by the Assembly in March 2025 to increase BC quota in education, employment, and local governance. However, those earlier Bills too are still awaiting President Droupadi Murmu’s assent.
With the High Court’s stay, the Telangana local body elections 2025 have been effectively put on hold, pending further judicial and administrative directions.
