Telangana Cabinet meeting on November 15 to decide on local body polls, BC quota

The Telangana Cabinet meeting, now scheduled for November 15, is expected to clear the path for local body elections under the old reservation system, decide on BC quotas, and approve a draft bill for gig workers’ welfare and a new power utility.

Hyderabad: The State Cabinet meeting, earlier planned for Wednesday, has been postponed to November 15, with the government expected to take several crucial decisions, including on the long-pending local body elections and BC reservations.

The meeting, to be chaired by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at the State Secretariat, comes a day after the Jubilee Hills bypoll results are announced on November 14.

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According to official sources, the meeting which was initially scheduled for November 7 and later moved to November 12, was postponed to await the bypoll outcome. The Congress leadership, confident of victory in Jubilee Hills, is reportedly preparing to initiate key administrative measures once the results are declared.

The conduct of local body elections under the old reservation system is expected to top the Cabinet agenda. Citing the High Court directions, the Revanth Reddy government is likely to cap the total reservations at 50 per cent to conduct the local body elections. While the BC organisations and the opposition parties are demanding for a constitutional provision to provide the promised 42 per cent reservations for BCs, the Congress is expected to propose that the reservations should be provided by political parties.

Official sources said following the Cabinet decision on the reservation structure, the Panchayat Raj department will subsequently finalise the reservation list through district collectors and forward it to the State Election Commission, which is already prepared to announce the poll schedule. The government is planning to hold the MPTC, ZPTC and Sarpanch elections by next month.

Officials did not rule out the possibility of the poll campaign coinciding with the proposed ‘Praja Sarkar Vijayotsavam’, a Statewide celebration in the first week of December marking two years of Congress rule. During the Cabinet meeting, Ministers are expected to finalise the outreach programmes aimed at highlighting the government’s welfare and development initiatives.

The Cabinet meeting will also discuss approval of a draft bill for gig workers’ welfare, the creation of a new power distribution company, and also administrative and financial matters, including the release of pending funds and review of departmental performance.

With pressure mounting from the party cadre and the High Court’s insistence on timely polls, the Revanth Reddy government appears set to clear the decks for local body elections under the old quota system.