Repeated litigation over reservation delays local body elections and undermines the 73rd and 74th Amendments. Suggest institutional remedies.

The 73rd and 74th Amendments gave Panchayats and Municipalities a fixed five-year term (Arts. 243E, 243U). They also let States reserve seats for backward classes (Arts. 243D(6), 243T(6)) [3]. Andhra Pradesh's October 2026 Special Leave Petition against a High Court order on BC quotas in local polls [1] shows how quota disputes stall grassroots democracy. Institutional reform can fix this.

How litigation undermines decentralisation

• Vacant elected bodies: in Madhya Pradesh, over 23,000 local bodies ran without elected representatives for more than two years because the State had not completed the triple test [2].
• Late compliance is the root cause: the triple test from Vikas Kishanrao Gawali (2021) needs a dedicated commission, local body-wise data and a 50% cap [2]. States start this work only when polls are close.
• A pattern across States: Maharashtra faced the same deadlock [2]. Andhra Pradesh's dispute turns on whether its 2026 exercise repeats a defect the High Court found in the earlier Birru Prathap Reddy case [1].
• Accountability gap: appointed administrators replace elected members, which weakens the third tier the Amendments created.

Institutional remedies

• A standing dedicated BC commission in every State, updating political-backwardness data for each local body before every five-year cycle, so the reservation list is ready on time.
• Empowered State Election Commissions (Art. 243K) [3]: they should publish poll calendars well before terms end, which gives States a fixed deadline for their data. The SC has called the duty to hold timely elections "inviolable" [2].
• A statutory default rule: if the triple test is incomplete at notification, polls go ahead on schedule, as the SC directed in Suresh Mahajan (2022) [2]. The BC quota then applies from the next cycle.
• Fast-track adjudication: reservation SLPs filed close to elections should be decided within a fixed time, ending "polls subject to outcome" uncertainty.
• Shared caste data: a verified dataset pooled by the Union and States would cut the cost of the triple test's first step.

Timely elections and fair BC representation are both constitutional commitments, not rivals. A standing commission, a firm SEC calendar and quick court decisions would let States meet the triple test without missing poll deadlines. This would protect the empowered local self-government the 73rd and 74th Amendments promised and support SDG 16's goal of inclusive institutions.