The Andhra Pradesh High Court has struck down government orders providing 34% reservation for backward classes in local body elections, ruling that the quota breached the Supreme Court’s 50% ceiling on total reservations and directing the state government and State Election Commission to begin the election process within six weeks.
The order affects the reservation framework for upcoming rural and urban local body polls in Andhra Pradesh. The court also directed authorities to publish the final voter list and conduct the elections as scheduled. It rejected a petition by the YSRCP seeking postponement on the ground that ward delimitation was still under way, observing that the delimitation process was not a reason to defer the elections.
The reservation orders were issued after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced the increase on August 18. Naidu had said backward classes would receive 34% reservation in rural local bodies and 33.33% in urban local bodies. He described the decision as an effort to correct injustice and fulfil the Telugu Desam Party-led NDA government’s 2024 election promise to raise BC reservation in local bodies from 20% to 34%.
Addressing the Assembly, Naidu said backward classes constituted 50.54% of Andhra Pradesh’s population and argued that justice should be ensured for the community. The court’s ruling now removes the basis for implementing the announced reservation orders in their current form, while requiring the election machinery to proceed within the prescribed timeline.
The decision places the reservation question and the election schedule within the responsibility of two separate parts of the state’s administrative system. The state government issued the reservation orders, while the State Election Commission is responsible for conducting the local body elections. The court’s direction requires both institutions to move ahead with the process, including finalising and publishing the voter list.
The ruling is also a setback for the Naidu government, which had presented the quota as a major election commitment. It is likely to intensify pressure from BC organisations and political opponents. Vangala Eswariah, president of the All India Federation of Backward Classes, had earlier said the 34% quota would not withstand legal scrutiny and alleged that the government announced it despite being aware of the legal risk.
The YSRCP had opposed the reservation decision, arguing that it violated Supreme Court guidelines. Its separate request to postpone the elections was not accepted by the High Court. The court’s observations therefore address both the reservation framework and the administrative steps required before local polls can be held.
Local body elections determine representation in rural and urban institutions that manage civic administration, but the immediate legal issue is the limit on aggregate reservations. The High Court’s order means the state must now implement the election process in accordance with the court’s ruling and the applicable reservation framework. The next formal steps are the publication of the final voter list and commencement of the election process within six weeks.
