State to conduct local body elections before September 30 deadline set by HC

The State government appears to have decided to go ahead with the conduct of elections to local bodies by September 30, the deadline set by the High Court, irrespective of whether the Centre gives its assent to the enhanced reservations to backward classes (BCs).

The Telangana State Election Commission has fixed schedule for the officials at mandal and district levels to prepare and publish electoral rolls of gram panchayats. The notification with less than a week time frame for publication of the final electoral rolls, comes at a time when the State government intensified its pitch with the Centre to give consent to the Bills providing 42% reservations to BCs in local body elections.

Repeated representations by the government and dharna staged at Jantar Mantar in the national capital to mount pressure on the Centre did not yield results prompting the government to abide by the deadline set by the court. Left with no options, the government appears to have decided to go ahead with the elections with reservations fixed in the previous elections although the ruling Congress is firmly intent on giving 42% quota to backward classes in the nomination of candidates.

Officials concerned are accordingly instructed to prepare and display draft photo electoral rolls of gram panchayats ward-wise at gram panchayat and mandal parishad offices on August 28.

They have been asked to adopt the photo Assembly constituency electoral rolls in toto with July 1 as qualifying date and display of draft rolls will be followed by meeting with the representatives of political parties at the district-level the next day. The mandal parishad development officers will meet political parties representatives at their level on September 30.

The State Election Commission will receive objections if any on re-arrangement of rural Assembly voters into ward-wise gram panchayat electoral rolls between August 28 and 30. Objections would be disposed of by the District Panchayat Officer on August 31 and final publication of ward-wise photo electoral rolls of gram panchayats will be on September 2.