Telangana municipal polls: Women dominate fray; married, middle-aged candidates outnumber singles

The candidate pool for Telangana’s upcoming municipal elections reveal a striking demographic pattern: women not only constitute a substantial share, but an overwhelming majority of them are married.

A scan of the official list of the State Election Commission reveals that a total of 6,877 women are in the electoral fray across districts. This makes women a formidable presence in the upcoming polls, reflecting the deepening impact of reservation policies for women in local governance.

An overwhelming 6,184 women candidates are married, constituting nearly 90% of all women in the race. The dominance of married women reflects long-standing social patterns in local bodies, where political visibility and eligibility often correlate with age, family responsibilities and community acceptance.

Only a small fraction of women contestants fall under the “single” category while a notable number carry a blank in the marital status entry.

A district-wise breakdown shows that Sangareddy district tops the list with 564 women contesting, followed by Karimnagar (403) and Nizamabad (379). Districts like Mulugu (46) and Hanamkonda (11) are at the bottom of the list, and it could be related to the small size of the districts as well.

The reservation matrix underscores the influence of women from the general category and backward classes in the fray. In the open category (referred to as unreserved category) 3,569 women are in the fray and these include women from all the social groups.

As many as 1,612 candidates are in the seats reserved for Backward Classes women, while 816 are in the fray among the Scheduled Castes and 154 among the Scheduled Tribes. This confirms that most women contesting are doing so from women-reserved wards, reaffirming the policy’s role in boosting women’s representation.

General-category gender-neutral wards such as UR(G) and BC(G) together account for only 493 women, indicating that open competition wards still remain male-dominated. Married women, especially in the 30-55 years age bracket, appear to be the backbone of the political engagement.

The party-wise analysis positions the Congress at the top with 1,650 women candidates, closely followed by the BRS with 1,585 contestants. Independents come third with 1,467 while the BJP has fielded 1,420 women. Smaller parties such as AIMIM (149), JSP (142) and AIFB (138) contribute modestly to the overall numbers.

The statistics also show that the major parties have deployed female candidates with a predictable emphasis on women-reserved wards. Consolidated data from the State Election Commission paints a picture of expanding women’s participation in civic politics, though still underpinned by reservation-driven entry points.