The Congress-led Telangana government has raised the OBC reservation quota to 42 per cent, a move that should consolidate its support base amongst the Other Backward Classes.
Two bills passed on Monday, 17 March, fulfil from the Congress. They were designed based on the findings of the recently concluded .
The Telangana Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Rural and Urban Local Bodies) Bill, 2025, and the Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and in Public Services) Bill, 2025, were both passed through a voice vote after a brief discussion in the Assembly.
"It is my honour to announce the longest pending demand of the subaltern groups since Indian Independence,” said chief minister .
The move, however, has reignited debate over the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent cap on caste-based reservations that led to a rollback in Bihar.
Hailing the decision, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi congratulated the CM, however, and termed it "revolutionary" — while reiterating the Congress party's demand for a nationwide caste census.
Gandhi posted on X:
'The Congress government has fulfilled its promise of increasing OBC reservations in Telangana.
'The actual number of OBCs, obtained through a scientific caste count, has been accepted, and a bill ensuring their rightful 42 [per cent] reservation in education, employment and politics has been passed.
'This is a revolutionary step towards social justice that also dismantles the artificial 50 [per cent] reservation cap.’
Telangana now reserves 29 per cent of seats for OBCs in education and employment and 23 per cent in local bodies.
If implemented, the new bills will take the total quantum of caste-based reservations in the state to 63 per cent, far beyond the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent.
Notably, the Bills were supported by the opposition parties in this instance — including the BJP and the BRS (Bharata Rashtra Samiti).
The quota hike follows the caste survey tabled in the assembly on 4 February, making Telangana the second after Bihar to release the findings of a statewide caste survey.
The survey revealed that OBCs constitute 56.33 per cent of Telangana's population, followed by Scheduled Castes (17.43 per cent) and Scheduled Tribes (10.45 per cent). Other castes account for 15.79 per cent, while Muslims make up 12.56 per cent, of whom 10.08 per cent belong to the OBC category.
AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi supported the bill — but also demanded that 8 per cent of the OBC reservation be allocated to "backward Muslim groups" of the BC-E category.
If implemented, Telangana would become the second state, after Haryana, to introduce a sub-classification within the Scheduled Caste (SC) quota following .
States such as Tamil Nadu have previously implemented sub-quotas for Dalits — but then there have been recent judicial disagreements that parallel SC sub-divisions, such as .
The move sets the stage for another legal battle, with anti-reservation experts questioning its validity in light of Supreme Court rulings that have struck down similar breaches of the 50 per cent cap.
However, the Congress sees this as a strategic push for greater social justice and an electoral trump card ahead of the crucial Bihar assembly elections, say political watchers.
