HYDERABAD: To honour the pre-election promise made by the Congress to increase reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) to 42% in local body elections, the state government is set to convene a special session of the state Legislature to adopt a resolution on enhancing the quota.
The enhanced quota is an integral part of the BC Declaration unveiled by the Congress in the run-up to the 2023 Assembly elections.
The official grapevine has it that the state government will convene the special session either in late January or early February.
Significantly, the Congress has, in principle, already made a decision to allocate 42% of its tickets to BCs, regardless of potential legal challenges, sources revealed.
The resolution, once adopted, will call on the Union government to revise the reservation policy to ensure the BC population is proportionately represented, the sources disclosed.
The state government is weighing legal options to align its strategy on quota with the Supreme Court’s previous rulings capping the reservations to 50%, they confided.
Government sources indicated that two key reports — the Dedicated Commission’s study on BC quotas in local bodies and the findings of the comprehensive Samagra Intinti Kutumba Survey — are ready and set to be submitted once Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy returns from his foreign tour. These reports, which delve into socioeconomic, educational, employment and caste dynamics, will form the basis of the government’s push for enhanced reservations, those privy to the information disclosed.
The Dedicated Commission was constituted to conduct a rigorous empirical study into the nature and implications of the BC quota in local bodies.
Sources said that the Congress government will conduct local body elections only after taking all the necessary steps to increase the BC reservations.