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With the end of urban local body elections today in Telangana, women overwhelmingly dominated the scene. Women not only benefited from statutory reservations but also translated electoral opportunity into political authority, thus reshaping the leadership profile in Telangana.
Women take centre stage in urban local body elections (Image Source: Internet)
Hyderabad: The election of Mayors and Municipal Chairpersons in 116 Municipalities and 7 Municipal Corporations in Telangana has marked a decisive moment for women's political participation, with women emerging as a dominant force across urban local bodies, as per Dynamite News correspondent.
From Municipal Corporations to Municipalities, women not only benefited from statutory reservations but also translated electoral opportunity into political authority, reshaping the leadership profile in urban Telangana.
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Out of the seven Municipal Corporations that went to polls in the state, three mayoral posts were reserved for women, and significantly, all the women mayors belong to the Congress, underlining the party's overwhelming dominance. Caste-wise too, the mayoral posts reflected a broad social spread.
Out of the seven mayor posts, three were reserved for women, and one each for SC and ST categories. Among these, women held two unreserved (women) and one BC (women) mayoral seats.
The most striking impact of women's participation was visible at the municipality level. Of the 116 Municipal Chairpersons, 30 were in the unreserved category, 16 were in the BC category, 7 were under SC, and two were in the ST categories.
Among these, at least 60 were held by women, 55 through women-reserved seats and five additional women elected in the general seats so far. This meant that women occupied more than half of all municipality chairpersons, a rare milestone in Telangana's civic politics.
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Combining corporations and municipalities, Telangana has 123 head posts (mayors and chairpersons). Women account for at least 63 of these, in addition to at least 11 deputy-level posts (including deputy mayors and deputy chairpersons).
Party-wise, in all categories, the Congress dominated the landscape with 86 head posts, followed by BRS with 18, the BJP with 2, and Independents with 4.
