All Major Parties Allot 50% Tickets To BC Candidates

Hyderabad: Congress, BRS and BJP have allotted more than 50 per cent of their tickets to Backward Class (BC) community candidates for the municipal elections scheduled for February 11. This is against 28.21 per cent of total wards in 121 municipalities and 35.24 per cent in 10 municipal corporations reserved for community quota for elections and the government’s failed attempt to ensure 42 per cent reservation.

Data from the three parties shows that the ruling Congress has allotted 1,601 tickets to BC candidates, making the figure 53.69 per cent. While BRS allotted 1,580 tickets or 52.98 per cent, BJP allotted 1,493 tickets or 50.07 per cent.

As per the reservation policy notified by the government, reservations for BC, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities are capped at 50 per cent.
While parties fielded BC candidates even in unreserved wards, candidates in general categories accounted for less than half of the tickets. Congress allotted 20 per cent of tickets to general category candidates, 21 per cent to BRS and 28 per cent to BJP; the remaining seats were reserved for SC and ST community candidates.

The ticket distribution comes in the backdrop of the Congress government’s initiative to provide 42 per cent reservation to the BC community in local body elections. The Revanth Reddy government had passed a government order to this effect in December 2025, but this decision was set aside by the Supreme Court. The subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court did not yield any results.

After the court setbacks, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had announced that the Congress would allocate 42 per cent of its tickets to BC candidates. Ultimately, all three major parties exceeded this criterion.

In some regions, the share of BC tickets was significantly higher. In the undivided Karimnagar district, the Congress allotted 67.66 per cent of the tickets to BC candidates, while the BRS allocated 60 per cent.

The State Election Commission (DSK) has issued poll notifications for 2,996 neighborhoods in 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations. It was announced that 14 of them were elected unopposed after the withdrawal period expired on Tuesday, leaving elections in 2,982 regions.