Telangana: Survey sparks hopes of BC leaders for tweak in local poll quotas

Some leaders previously could not contest for these posts because certain seats were reserved for women. It is also anticipated that the number of reserved seats for sarpanch, MPTC, and ZPTC posts may increase once the population count of BCs is released.

Reservation allocations may change through rotation, and leaders seeking political opportunities in agency areas hope the survey results will support their aspirations. Non-tribals, whose village sarpanch posts were reserved for STs despite a higher non-tribal (BC) population, are also hopeful for changes in such reservation policies.

For a long time, sarpanch posts in some villages have been reserved for ST candidates in agency areas, despite their numbers being lower than those of non-tribals.

Many aspirants who couldn’t contest in the past due to reservations are now looking to enter the fray after the integrated household survey. This scenario is particularly evident in Adilabad Rural, Bela, Jainad, and Bheempur mandals in Adilabad district.

Koppula Jeevan, from the Backward Community of Ankoli gram panchayat in Adilabad mandal, shared that BCs are hopeful for changes in sarpanch reservations. He expressed that the survey will politically empower BCs by ensuring greater representation in local body polls.

Similarly, non-tribals are hopeful for reservation changes for sarpanch posts in villages like Ruyyadi, where, despite a nominal ST population, the sarpanch post in Thalamadugu mandal is reserved for STs.