In a major development impacting Telangana’s rural elections, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday suspended the election notification for local bodies after the Telangana High Court stayed the state government’s order providing 42 per cent reservation to Backward Classes.

The SEC, which had issued the notification on September 29 for elections to Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), and Gram Panchayats, announced that the elections are now kept in abeyance until further orders.

State Election Commissioner Rani Kumudini said the decision came in light of the High Court’s interim stay on both the GO for 42 per cent reservation and the notification for rural body polls.

The division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin pronounced the interim order after a two-day hearing on petitions challenging the Backward Class reservations. The court adjourned the case for six weeks, directing the state government and SEC to file comprehensive counter affidavits in four weeks, while petitioners have two weeks to respond.

The elections, initially planned in five phases starting October 23 for ZPTCs and MPTCs and October 31 for Gram Panchayats, were to see over 1.67 crore voters casting their votes across Telangana.

The stay comes after the state government, on September 26, issued a GO reserving 42 per cent of seats in local bodies for Backward Classes, following the passage of the Telangana Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025, and Telangana Panchayat Raj (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025. These Bills aim to remove the 50 per cent cap on quotas for all categories but are still awaiting approval from the President.

Earlier this year, in March, the state Assembly had passed Bills to enhance Backward Class reservations to 42 per cent in education, employment, and local bodies—an effort now caught in legal scrutiny.