Local Body Polls Likely After Jubilee Hills Assembly Bypoll in November
The government is preparing to approach the High Court next week to seek an extension of the September 30 deadline fixed earlier for conducting elections to gram panchayats, mandal parishads, zilla parishads and municipalities.
Hyderabad: Elections to urban and local bodies are now expected to be held only after the Jubilee Hills Assembly bypoll. The Congress anticipates that the Election Commission of India will schedule the bypoll in the last week of October or early November, along with the Bihar state elections, and wants to complete this before proceeding with the local bodies elections, likely in November.
The government is preparing to approach the High Court next week to seek an extension of the September 30 deadline fixed earlier for conducting elections to gram panchayats, mandal parishads, zilla parishads and municipalities. The government is citing the pendency of legislation proposing 42 per cent reservations for the Backward Classes communities in local bodies, and lifting the 50 per cent cap on quotas to facilitate this.
Bills on the subject, passed by the Assembly recently, are awaiting assent from the Governor and the President. Officials have made it clear that holding the local body elections before securing clarity on the quota issue would be impractical.
The High Court had in June directed the government to complete the polls by September-end. With just over two weeks left, the government has decided to formally seek more time.
At a press conference in Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday, TPCC president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud indicated that the delay in local body polls was unavoidable, reiterating that the Congress was firmly committed to implementing the 42 per cent BC quota in local bodies. He asserted that the government would not proceed with polls until the reservation issue was resolved.
Party insiders revealed that the Congress leadership was prioritising the Jubilee Hills bypoll. They expect the Election Commission of India to announce the bypoll schedule along with the Bihar Assembly polls notification by early October.
The party has chalked out plans to intensify its campaign in Jubilee Hills immediately after Dasara on October 2. The Congress leadership aims to replicate their success in Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly bypoll, which they wrested from the BRS in May 2024, by putting all resources into ensuring a victory in Jubilee Hills. The Congress believes a win in Jubilee Hills by wresting the seat from the BRS will strengthen its momentum ahead of the local body polls.