HYDERABAD: Even as the case on 42 per cent reservations for Backward Classes was pending in the Telangana High Court, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Monday announced the schedule for local body elections starting October 9.
The elections for ZPTCs, MPTCs will be held in two phases and Sarpanches will be held in three phases.
State Election Commissioner Rani Kumudini released the poll schedule today. The ZPTC and MPTC elections will be held first, followed by polls for Sarpanches. Elections will be conducted for 12,733 gram panchayats and 1,12,288 wards.
Nominations for MPTC and ZPTC seats will be accepted starting from October 9. The first phase of polling will be held on October 23, and the second phase on October 27. For Gram Panchayats, the first phase of polling will be held on October 31, the second on November 4, and the third on November 8.
According to the SEC, elections will be conducted for a total of 5,749 MPTC and 565 ZPTC seats. A total of 1.12 lakh polling stations have been identified for the local body elections.
Despite the pending court case, Gazette notifications regarding reservations were released on Sunday evening and reservations have been finalised across all districts and mandals. The next hearing on the reservations is scheduled in the High Court on October 8.
Earlier, the High Court, finding fault with the government for issuing a Government Order providing reservations to BCs while a related Bill was still pending with the Governor, had asked the State whether it would postpone the elections or whether the Court should take a call. However, the SEC issued the election schedule today.