In 2025, Telangana politics was dominated by debates around the caste census and proposals to enhance reservations for Backward Classes (BCs). Other significant developments included the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes (SCs), two Cabinet expansions, Congress’s victory in the Jubilee Hills Assembly bypoll, and strong performance in Gram Panchayat elections.
The Socio-Economic, Education, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey, launched in late 2024, continued into January 2025, covering 96.9% of the population (3,54,77,554 people). Findings revealed that BCs constitute 56.33% of Telangana’s population, SCs 17.43%, STs 10.45%, and Other Castes (OCs) 13.31%. Muslims make up 12.56% of the population, with 10.08% classified as BCs.
The Congress government conducted the survey to fulfill its social justice promise, in line with Rahul Gandhi’s slogan, “Jis ki jitni abadi, uska utna haq”. Rahul Gandhi described the initiative as a milestone for social justice, setting a precedent for a national caste census. However, opposition parties BRS and BJP criticized the findings, questioning the apparent decline in BC population from 61% in 2014 to 56.33% in 2025. The report faced internal dissent as well, with Congress MLC Teenmaar Mallanna publicly rejecting and burning a copy of the survey.
BC Reservation Expansion:
Based on the survey, the state legislature passed two Bills to raise BC reservations to 42% in education, employment, and local bodies. Since this exceeded the 50% cap, the Bills were sent to the Centre for inclusion in the Ninth Schedule. With no response from the Centre, the state government issued an executive order to enhance BC reservations in local bodies, which faced legal challenges. The High Court stayed the order, and the Supreme Court dismissed the government’s appeal, delaying rural local body elections.
Sub-categorisation of SCs:
Telangana became the first state to implement Supreme Court guidelines on SC sub-categorisation. A one-man commission classified 59 SC communities into three groups to ensure equitable reservation distribution. The Telangana Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Bill, 2025 was passed unanimously, marking a historic step in the over 30-year-old campaign for SC sub-classification.
Cabinet Expansions and Political Moves:
The first Cabinet expansion inducted Vivek Venkataswamy, Adluri Laxman Kumar, and Vakiti Srihari. A second expansion in November saw former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin inducted as the first Muslim minister, ahead of the Jubilee Hills bypoll. Congress candidate V. Naveen Yadav defeated BRS nominee Maganti Sunitha by nearly 25,000 votes, strengthening Revanth Reddy’s leadership.
Local Body Elections and GHMC Expansion:
Congress performed strongly in Gram Panchayat elections, winning 6,822 out of 12,727 seats (53.6%). Revanth Reddy claimed that, including Congress rebels, the party controlled nearly 66% of the Gram Panchayats. Additionally, the government merged 27 urban local bodies with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), creating India’s largest municipal body by area and population.
Telangana Rising Vision 2047:
Towards the end of the year, the state unveiled the Telangana Rising Vision 2047, aiming to transform Telangana into a $3 trillion economy by 2047, with an interim milestone of $1 trillion by 2034. The roadmap proposed sector-specific zones — CURE (Core Urban Region Economy), PURE (Peri Urban Region Economy), and RARE (Rural Agri Region Economy) — and ambitious projects like Bharat Future City, Musi River rejuvenation, a Dry Port, a 12-lane expressway to Krishnapatnam, and bullet train corridors linking Hyderabad with Bengaluru and Chennai.
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