State Cabinet meet on April 23 to decide on ZPTC, MPTC polls, Rohith Vemula Act, new job notifications, Metro takeover
Hyderabad: The state Cabinet meeting scheduled for April 23 is likely to take a crucial decision on conducting the long-delayed zilla parishad and mandal parishad elections, with official sources indicating that they may be held in June. The ZPTC and MPTC elections carry political significance as they are contested on party symbols.
The previous elections were held in May 2019 during the BRS regime, and the five-year tenure of elected representatives ended in June 2024. Since then, the local bodies have been under the administration of special officers. The Congress government has conducted panchayat elections in December 2025 and municipal elections in February 2026, and is now preparing to complete the local body election cycle.
Indications of imminent elections have gained momentum with the Telangana State Election Commission initiating the preparation of draft voters’ lists. The Commission has directed district collectors, except those of Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri as they are urban districts, to identify additional voters included in the electoral rolls updated by the Election Commission of India between July 10, 2025 and February 5, 2026, and integrate them mandal-wise into polling station-wise lists.
Fresh instructions were issued to prepare updated voter lists for each gram panchayat and polling station under MPTC and ZPTC jurisdictions. These lists are to be verified by district panchayat officers (DPOs) and linked to polling centres in accordance with the Centre for Good Governance user manual.
Any discrepancies must be reported to the Commission by April 23, following which draft lists will be published village-wise. After considering objections and suggestions, final electoral rolls will be released, paving the way for arrangements such as polling centres and ballot boxes.
Though the election process had begun earlier with a notification issued on September 29 last year and nominations invited, it was halted on October 9 following High Court orders during the hearing of a petition on 42 per cent BC reservations. Subsequently, the government conducted panchayat and municipal elections based on old reservations.
Apart from local body elections, the Cabinet meeting will deliberate on several key issues, including approval for the issuance of fresh job notifications, drafting of the proposed Rohith Vemula Act, progress on the takeover of Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-I from L&T, and allotment of land to industries that have signed MoUs with the state government.
The proposed Rohith Vemula Act aims to prevent caste-based discrimination in higher educational institutions. The government constituted a Cabinet sub-committee on April 18 to draft recommendations for the legislation.
The move follows a request by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had written to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy last year urged the enactment of such a law. Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar at the University of Hyderabad, died by suicide in 2016, allegedly due to caste-based discrimination, triggering nationwide protests and a major political debate. The Congress government in Karnataka has recently approved a similar bill to address discrimination in educational institutions.
On employment, the government had halted issuance of new job notifications since August 2024 following a Supreme Court ruling in favour of SC sub-categorisation. After passing legislation in February 2025 to implement sub-categorisation, the government completed pending Group I, II, III and IV recruitments and is now planning to issue fresh notifications through a new job calendar in June, coinciding with State Formation Day. The Cabinet is also expected to discuss plans to celebrate the State Formation Day on a grand scale from June 2 to 9.
The Cabinet will also review the status of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-I takeover from L&T. Although the government approved the takeover in February 2026 with a deadline of March 31, it was extended to April 30. However, progress has been slow due to delays in mobilising funds. As part of the `15,000 crore deal, the state has agreed to assume ₹13,000 crore debt and pay `2,000 crore in equity to L&T. With the revised deadline approaching, the Cabinet is expected to take a decision on expediting the process.
