Women to redefine urban leadership with Congress candidates being the maximum

The election of Mayors and 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.

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.

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 the Scheduled Caste (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (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 chairpersons, 30 were in the unreserved category, 16 were in the BC, 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 chairpersonships, a rare milestone in Telangana’s civic politics.

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 vice-chairpersons). However, this number might increase as 11 municipalities will go for elections tomorrow.

Party-wise in all categories, the Congress dominated the landscape with 86 head posts, followed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi with 18, the Bharatiya Janata Party (2), Independents (4), CPI (1) and AIFB (1).

Importantly, 100% women mayor posts went to the Congress. The Congress secured mayoral posts in Mahabubnagar, Mancherial, Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Ramagundam, while the BJP won Karimnagar, and the Communist Party of India captured Kothagudem in alliance with Congress.

Yet, among these, only Congress-led corporations saw women at the top. Districts such as Nalgonda, Yadadri Bhongir, Khammam and Sangareddy reported particularly high numbers of women heading municipalities.