A video from Telangana's Mahabubabad district has gone viral after capturing an unusual scene: several men requesting a woman to contest the local body elections as sarpanch, with one of them even dropping to his knees and clutching her feet in desperation.
The incident was recorded last week in Mahabubabad's Datla village.
In the video, Congress supporters and local faction leaders can be seen emotionally urging Ramulamma to contest for the Sarpanch post in the upcoming Panchayat elections. At one point, multiple men hold her hand and kneel at her feet, pleading with the mother of a former MPTC (Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency) member to accept the nomination.
The Datla Sarpanch seat has been reserved for a Backward Classes (BC) woman. Local Congress leaders insisted that Ramulamma was their unanimous choice and the only candidate capable of securing a win for the party in the reserved constituency.
Caught off guard by the intensity of the appeals, Ramulamma did not give an immediate answer and said she would announce her decision soon.
The dramatic scene reflects the complexities created by mandatory reservations in the Panchayati Raj system, established under the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments. Seats in local bodies, such as those for Sarpanch and Ward Members, are frequently reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Backward Classes (BC), and women within each group.
While this system has significantly boosted representation for marginalised groups, it often poses a challenge for political parties. They must field candidates from the precise caste and gender category, sometimes leading to frantic searches for "winnable" figures who are loyal to the local political families.
​In many reserved seats, particularly those allocated for women, local strongmen or influential political families often seek out a loyal family member, like a wife, mother, or sister, to contest the seat, ensuring they can wield influence indirectly, a phenomenon frequently referred to as "proxy candidacy."
