Telangana BC Panel Seeks Halt to Panchayat Polls

Hyderabad: The Telangana Backward Classes Commission on Friday recommended to the government to put the gram panchayat elections in abeyance and constitute a high-level committee to rectify the errors in the BC community reservations.

Commission chairman G. Niranjan told Deccan Chronicle that it was a recommendation and it was up to the government to take a call. “The commission can only make recommendations. It cannot issue orders to the government,” he said.

The recommendation followed a meeting between chairman Niranjan, commission members Rapolu Jayaprakash, Tirumalagiri Surender, Balalakshmi Rangu, assistant secretary K. Manohar Rao and deputy director Srinivasa Rao, to study the reservations provided to the BC community in local bodies and its impact.

The commission felt that the reservations for the BC community were at 22.78 per cent in the 2019 elections and had fallen to 21.39 per cent, marking a decrease of 1.39 percentage points.

They expressed shock over the cut in BC quota, which they said came despite the household survey showing the BC population at 56.33 per cent.

Due to an error in the reservations-determining process, the BC quota had been decreased below previous levels, the commission felt. “This must be corrected before conducting the elections. Otherwise, BCs will suffer severe injustice,” the commission felt.

In a media statement on Friday, commission chairman Niranjan said, "Therefore, the state government should put the elections in abeyance and should constitute a high-level committee to rectify the errors in the reservations before holding the elections."

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, chairman Niranjan said, '"The commission can only make recommendations to state government. It cannot issue orders to the government. We have brought to the notice of government the injustice meted out to BCs. It's up to the government to act and do justice.”