OBC quota rises in AMC polls: Reserved seats jump from 19 to 52 under 27% rule

The number of seats reserved for Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates in the upcoming Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) elections will increase sharply, from 19 to 52, following the implementation of the 27% reservation rule. The State Election Commission announced the revised seat allocation on October 28.

The move significantly changes the electoral landscape for the February 2026 civic polls. Ahmedabad has 48 wards, and except for Chandkheda, all 47 will now have at least one OBC candidate. Political parties will therefore need to field at least one OBC candidate per ward, and in some cases, two. With this change, the number of general (unreserved) seats will drop from 76 to 59.

Current reservation structure

At present, AMC’s 192-member body has the following distribution:

• Women: 99 seats
• Scheduled Castes (SC): 20 seats
• Scheduled Tribes (ST): 2 seats
• OBC candidates: 19 seats

This totals 116 reserved seats and 76 general seats.

For the upcoming elections, the realignment is based on the 2011 Census, which recorded a population of 5.96 million in Ahmedabad, averaging about 1.18 lakh residents per ward.

While OBC reservations will increase, the number of SC and ST seats remains unchanged. Out of the 20 SC seats, 10 will continue to be reserved for women, and the 2 ST seats will remain as before.

Background and delay in implementation

Although the 27% OBC reservation in local self-governing bodies was cleared by the Gujarat Assembly in September 2023, its implementation in municipal corporations like AMC required several follow-up steps.

The Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2023, which raised OBC reservation from 10% to 27%, was based on recommendations by a commission headed by retired judge K S Zaveri. The state government formally announced the new quota in August 2023.

However, applying the change to individual wards took time. The State Election Commission had to recalculate seat reservations and update ward-wise allocations using the 2011 Census data. The new distribution was notified only in October 2025.

The amendment itself is currently under judicial scrutiny. Petitions before the Supreme Court have challenged whether the state fulfilled the “triple test” required for extending OBC reservations in local bodies.

Political activity intensifies

Following the announcement, political activity has picked up across the city, particularly among sitting corporators and party workers from the BJP, Congress, and AIMIM.

Each of the 48 wards continues to have one male and one female seat under the general category.

The BJP, which has ruled the AMC since 1986, is expected to enforce its “No Repeat” policy, under which councillors who have already served three or more terms are not given tickets again, party sources indicated.

SC and ST seat distribution

SC women: Sabarmati, Ghatlodia, Sardar Patel Stadium, Shahibaug, Bodakdev, India Colony, Saraspur–Rakhiyal, Behrampura, Vastral, and Vatva.

SC men: Chandkheda, Thaltej, Naranpura, Saijpur, Khadia, Maktampura, Danilimda, Gomtipur, Amraiwadi, and Bhaipura.

Additionally, Chandkheda will have one ST woman seat and one SC male seat, while Vasna will retain one SC male seat.

Five wards with two OBC seats each

Five wards—Chandlodia, Kubernagar, Navrangpura, Jamalpur, and Maninagar—will each have two OBC seats. Political parties will therefore need to field two OBC candidates from these wards.

OBC women: One seat each will be reserved in Chandlodia, Ranip, Nava Vadaj, Thaltej, Naranpura, Sardarnagar, Saijpur, Kubernagar, Navrangpura, Jodhpur, Dariapur, Viratnagar, Bapunagar, Khadia, Jamalpur, Vasna, Sarkhej, Maktampura, Danilimda, Maninagar, Gomtipur, Amraiwadi, Odhav, Indrapuri, Bhaipura, and Ramol–Hathijan.

OBC men: Gota, Chandlodia, Sabarmati, Ghatlodia, Sardar Patel Stadium, Naroda, Kubernagar, Asarwa, Shahibaug, Shahpur, Navrangpura, Bodakdev, India Colony, Thakkarbapanagar, Nikol, Saraspur, Jamalpur, Paldi, Vejalpur, Behrampura, Maninagar, Vastral, Khokhra, Lambha, and Vatva.

No OBC reservation in Chandkheda

Chandkheda is the only ward without any OBC reservation this time. Its two seats are already allocated — one for an ST woman and another for an SC man.

With the 27% rule finally implemented, the AMC elections are expected to reshape local politics as parties recalibrate candidate lists and alliances to reflect the expanded OBC representation.