Hyderabad: The Panchayat Raj Amendment Bill, 2025, was passed in the Telangana Assembly on Sunday, August 31. This paves the way for the implementation of 42 per cent reservation for backward classes
Presenting the Bill, Telangana Animal Husbandry Minister Vakiti Srihari said that the government is committed to empowering the backwards classes. “The 42 percent quota in local body elections would strengthen the BC representation,” he said.
He urged the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to support the Bill.
Minister for Backward Classes Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar said the government would implement BC quota in the upcoming local body elections. “The 42 percent BC quota will be strictly restricted to the members of the community,” he stressed.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) welcomes the Bill but questioned the commitment of the Congress government to fulfil its promise of 42 percent BC quota. “Why was the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, silent over the issue in the Parliament?” he asked in the Assembly.
Intervening in the debate, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy accused BRS of misleading the house. He alleged that the legislations passed by the previous BRS government became the main impediment to enhancing the BC quota.
Telangana Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 and Telangana Panchayat Raj (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 were passed by voice vote after a brief but heated debate during which ruling Congress and main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) blamed each other for non-implementation of enhanced reservation for BCs.
(With inputs from IANS)
