High Court Stays Panchayat Polls In Mahbubpatnam

• High Court questions ST reservation structure in Panchayat elections
• Villagers challenge ward allocation and voting pattern in court

The High Court has stayed the Panchayat elections in Mahbubpatnam in Mahabubabad district after raising serious questions about the reservation pattern. The court asked the government how one sarpanch seat and three ward seats were reserved for STs when the village has only six ST voters. It further asked how the remaining ward members would be selected if all the six ST voters were placed in the same ward. The stay came as the court examined complaints about irregularities in the reservation process.

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Meanwhile, a strange situation emerged in the reservation of Panchayat elections in Mahmoodpatnam in Kesamudram mandal. The village has seven voters belonging to three ST families. Yet the reservation allotted the sarpanch seat and three wards to STs. This created confusion among the villagers because the small number of voters could not logically justify such a wide reservation allotment. The villagers argued that the reservation plan did not reflect the actual distribution of voters in the Panchayat.

Therefore, Mittagudupula Yakub, Kasoju Srikanthachary, Siluveru Lingaiah, Polu Nagaiah, Vijay and Venkatamallu approached the High Court on Wednesday. They asked the court to change the reservation. They also said that after the detachments were separated from the Mahmoodpatnam Gram Panchayat and new GPs were formed during the previous KCR government, the village had a total of 576 votes. According to them, the village population includes 199 SC voters, 358 BC voters, 13 OC voters and only seven ST voters. They told the court that the reservation based on the 2011 census gave the sarpanch post and three ward seats to STs even though they represent a very small share of the voters.

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However, the villagers added that two of the three ST families are close relatives. This, they said, created confusion in choosing candidates and also raised questions about fair competition. They argued that the current reservation limits options for candidates and reduces representation for the larger voter groups in the village. The High Court took note of these concerns and issued the stay order on the elections.

The High Court has now sought an explanation from the authorities. It is expected to examine whether the reservation plan followed legal norms and whether it ensured balanced representation. The next steps will depend on the government’s response and the court’s further review of the complaints filed by the villagers.

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