Notification for panchayat raj polls only after enumerating BC

The Hyderabad High Court today directed the Telangana government and the State Election Commission to issue notification for conduct of polls in Panchayat Raj institutions only after proper enumeration of Backward Classes people in the state population.

Justice M S Ramchandra Rao passed the order in a petition filed by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committe chief spokesperson Dasoju Sravan who alleged that the state government was rushing through the Panchayat Raj elections without properly enumerating the Backward Classes.

The government should be made to stick to the earlier judgments rendered by the court in this regard, he submitted.

According to Sravan, the government had stated that the Backward Class population in the state is 34 per cent and in some context the same is shown to be 40. Thus, there is no clarity on the exact percentage of Backward Class population in the state, he submitted.

The implementation of reservation scheme in favour of the Backward Classes without enumeration of their true population is detrimental to their interest.

The polls should not be conducted without proper enumeration of the Backward Class population in the state, he submitted.

Justice Ramachandra Rao directed the state government as well as the State Election Commission to first conduct the survey of Backward Class population meticulously to know the exact percentage of Backward Classes in the state population and then only go ahead with the issuance of notification for elections.