57 to 155: OBC seats more than doubled in 6 Gujarat municipal corporations as poll panel finalises quota

As per the latest orders of the SEC, the number of seats reserved for OBC communities in the AMC in the upcoming elections will be 52 – half of this will be reserved for women. In 2021, the number of reserved seats for OBCs was 19. With 48 wards, the AMC has 192 seats and 26 of the 52 OBC reserved seats will go to women as per the 50% quota. The AMC also has two seats reserved for tribals and 20 for Dalits, half of which will be reserved for women.

Surat will see a rise of 20 OBC candidates in the 2026 SMC elections. Thus, the SMC will have 32 OBC reserved seats in 2026 against 12 in 202. SMC, the second largest urban body of Gujarat, has 30 wards and 120 seats.
Vadodara has total 19 wards and 76 seats. According to the SEC directives, the number of OBC seats in the VMC has gone up to 21 from eight seats in 2021.
In the VMC, of the 76 seats, 54 are now reserved, including seats for women in the general category.
The 54 reserved seats include 38 seats reserved for women, of which, two are reserved for SC women, one for ST women and 10 for OBC-women candidates.
Similar will be the case in the other municipal corporations, thus reducing the number of general seats.
The state provides for a 7 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 14 per cent for Scheduled Tribes (STs).
For instance, in the 19 wards of Vadodara Municipal Corporation, the reservation means that a total of 21 OBC seats have been distributed in such a way that none of the wards has more than 50% reservation, i.e. out of four seats, two in each ward are General category seats.
Both the BJP and Congress face a dilemma when it comes to including sitting corporators. A senior BJP leader said, “There has been much juggling due to the reservations as at least eight General category seats have been reduced overall. The bigger dilemma is that in many wards where senior corporators have been winning since multiple terms may not be fielded due to the equation. The party will contemplate and discuss how candidates ought to be fielded. There is still time (for the elections)”.

In Vadodara, while OBC seats are designated in 18 of the 19 wards, two wards– 9 and 14 – have two OBC seats. Ward 12 of the VMC does not have any OBC seats as it has two seats reserved for ST (Woman) and an SC candidate– making a 50% reservation. The math now means that two of the four sitting General category corporators (from 2021 polls) will have to make way for the reservation candidates.

Rajkot, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar

In Saurashtra region, Rajkot city has 18 wards and 72 seats. The number of seats reserved for OBCs for the 2026 RMC elections has been increased to 19 from seven in 2021.
Two other local bodies of the region, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar too have seen a similar increase.
Jamnagar has 16 wards and 64 seats. The number of OBC seats for the 2026 elections has been increased to 17 from six in 2021.
Same is the case of Bhavnagar, which has 13 wards and 52 seats. For the 2026 elections, the SEC has reserved 14 seats for OBCs, a nearly three-fold increase from five seats in 2021.

No change in SC, ST seats

The number of reserved seats for the SC and ST communities in the six municipal corporations have remained unchanged in the latest orders by the SEC for the six municipal corporations.

The Jhaveri Commission was formed following directions of the Supreme Court to decide the OBC reservation in urban and local bodies following a survey. After recommendations of the Jhaveri Commission, the state government passed a Bill – The Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 – in Gujarat Assembly in 2023. The Bill amended the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, the Gujarat Municipalities Act, and the Gujarat Panchayats Act to increase the OBC reservation in urban and rural institutes of self-governance from 10% to 27%.
The Gujarat government has recently formed nine new municipal corporations. They include Surendranagar, Porbandar, Nadiad, Karamsad-Anand, Vapi, Gandhidham, Navsari, Mehsana and Morbi. All these new urban bodies are also likely to go to polls early next year along with the six other municipal corporations. And the SEC is expected to issue similar final reservation orders for them as well.

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