Congress’ attempt at justification backfires as data shows reduced BC reservations

Congress has provided only 21.39 per cent BC reservations in local bodies, falling short of its 42 per cent promise. The government cited Supreme Court directives and non-scheduled area calculations, but opposition parties allege betrayal of BC communities

Hyderabad: Under fire from all sides for failing to ensure even 23 per cent reservations for backward class communities as was done last time, the Congress government on Thursday attempted damage control through a ‘report’ shared selectively with the media, but in the process ended up admitting that it had provided only 21.39 per cent reservations for BCs.

The ‘report’, purportedly compiled by Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department, sought to justify the revised reservation pattern under GO No.46, saying the exercise was carried out in line with the Supreme Court directive that total reservations must remain within the 50 per cent ceiling. It said the Dedicated Commission for BC Reservations had determined the number of sarpanches and ward members to be reserved for ST, SC and BC communities, taking the mandal and gram panchayat as the unit respectively.

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The document further claimed that BC reservations had increased in eight districts. It stated that of the 12,760 gram panchayats in the State, 10,223 were non-scheduled panchayats. Out of these, 2,186 were reserved for BCs, amounting to 21.39 per cent. Another 714 panchayats were reserved for STs at 6.99 per cent, while 2,090 were allotted to SCs at 20.45 per cent.

In defending the decline in BC reservations, the report said the quota was applied only to non-scheduled areas. It added that for sarpanch reservations, the mandal was taken as a unit, and for ward members, the gram panchayat was the unit. It also stated that in 2019, reservations for BCs were fixed after excluding SC and ST reservations from 50 per cent of the total sarpanches and ward members. In 2025, reservations were determined after excluding SC and ST reservations from 50 per cent of the total positions or in proportion to their population, whichever was lower.

However, while attempting to justify the reduction, the Congress government effectively admitted that it could not fulfil its promise of extending 42 per cent reservations to BCs and had managed just 21.39 per cent. This comes despite its Kamareddy Declaration, in which the party had promised to increase BC reservations from 23 per cent to 42 per cent in local body elections. Instead of mitigating the criticism, the report has only bolstered the argument of opposition parties and BC organisations that the Congress has once again deceived the BC community.