Overview

• After a strategy meeting led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, the government signaled it will issue the GO next week to apply 42% BC reservation in local body elections.
• The move is expected to face legal scrutiny for exceeding the Supreme Court’s ceiling on total quotas, and government legal teams have been briefed to defend it.
• The state plans to ask the High Court for more time to conduct polls once the GO is issued, citing its policy commitment to BC reservations.
• Earlier efforts, including bills passed in March and a subsequent ordinance, remain pending with the President and the Governor, prompting the GO route.
• Local bodies have been without elected representatives for over a year, and the Congress is seeking to project a pro-BC stance as BC organisations push for statutory guarantees.