Telangana Assembly passes Bills for 42 per cent quota to BCs in local body polls
Hyderabad (PTI): The Telangana Assembly on Sunday passed two Bills to facilitate 42 per cent reservation to Backward Classes in local body polls by amending the legislation which was passed in 2018.
The government had earlier issued an ordinance to amend the Acts which was sent to the President by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma.
The Assembly passed The Telangana Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 and Telangana Panchayat Raj (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 after brief discussion.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy during the debate said as per the Telangana High Court’s order, polls for the local bodies should be held before September 30.
The Congress government is determined to go to the polls only after implementing the 42 per cent quota to BCs, he said.
Reddy held former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao responsible for not enhancing the BC quota, as the Panchayat Raj Act 2018 brought during the BRS rule does not permit the increase of quota beyond 50 per cent.
The CM questioned the BRS for not supporting the dharna held at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi earlier this month, demanding the union government to approve the BC quota Bills pending before the President of India.
It was a clear sign of the lack of sincerity of BRS in increasing the BC quota, the CM alleged.
The BC quota was approved in the cabinet meeting before adopting a resolution in the Assembly.
"We sent two separate Bills to the Governor to provide a 42 per cent quota in education, empowerment and local bodies. The two Bills have been pending with the President for the last five months," he said, pointing out that some "forces" approached the High Court on local body elections and the court ordered the election before September 30.
The CM said that the government had appointed the Dedication Commission only after examining the legal issues. This entire process of Caste Census started on February 4, 2024 and completed on February 4, 2025.
"We worked diligently to enact a law for the BC quota with a deadline of 365 days," he added.
Telangana Minister Ponnal Prabhakar said the Bills replace the ordinance issued earlier. It is a tradition and procedure to convert the ordinance into a Bill when the House meets.
The Congress had promised before the 2023 assembly polls to increase the BC reservations in local bodies to 42 per cent from 23 per cent, he said.
TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud expressed happiness over the unanimous resolution passed in the Assembly, removing the 50 per cent cap on reservations and providing 42 per cent reservations for BCs. He hoped that society would wholeheartedly welcome these measures taken with the utmost priority by the Telangana government.
The Congress leader thanked the CM and Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka for passing the Bills in the Assembly.
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23-year-old woman found dead at Delhi home; suicide suspected
New Delhi (PTI): A 23-year-old woman was found dead in her house in Delhi's Prem Nagar area, with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide, an official said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Anjali Singh, was found motionless in her room on Monday by her sister and her neighbour.
Police said her father, Vinod Kumar Singh (51), told them that he and his wife were away at work at the time of the incident, while their son and the other daughter were also not at home at the time of the incident.
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According to the family, the room in which Anjali was found was locked from the inside. The door was later forcibly opened by a neighbour and her sister with the help of a crowbar.
Her body was found lying on the bed inside the room, police said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Anjali had allegedly hanged herself using a piece of cloth tied to the ceiling fan.
It is suspected that the noose eventually might have loosened or torn off, resulting in her being found lying on the bed.
Family members informed the police that Anjali was a final-year student of a librarian science course from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). About a week ago, her final-year examination results were declared, and she had failed, following which she had been under depression, they said.
The family has not raised any allegation of foul play, police said, adding that no suicide note or external injury marks were found on the body during the initial inspection.
Inquest proceedings have been initiated in the matter as per the law. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death, and further investigation is underway, police added.
