MP begins preparations for 2027 civic elections:Govt appoints reservation officer while election authorities start updating urban voter lists

The Madhya Pradesh government has initiated preparations for the 2027 municipal elections, even though the polls are still around a year and a half away. As part of the process, the state has designated an officer to oversee reservation procedures for the posts of mayors and municipal council chairpersons. According to an order issued by the Urban Development and Housing Department, the Commissioner of the Urban Administration and Development Department has been authorised to conduct the reservation process for these positions. Meanwhile, the State Election Commission has also begun work on preparing electoral rolls for urban local bodies in anticipation of the upcoming elections. Reservation to be conducted under 1999 rules The government order states that the reservation of mayoral and municipal chairperson posts will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Municipalities (Mayor and President) Reservation Rules, 1999. The state government formally issued the notification authorising the Commissioner of Urban Administration and Development to handle the reservation exercise on June 12. How reservation is currently structured 50% reservation for women Half of all mayoral and chairperson posts are reserved for women. SC and ST reservation based on population Reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) is determined according to their proportion in the population of the respective areas. 27% reservation for OBC category There is a provision for 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The allocation follows a rotational system, ensuring that civic bodies reserved in previous elections are generally excluded in the next cycle to provide opportunities to different municipalities. For all 16 municipal corporations in Madhya Pradesh, including Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, and Jabalpur, a lottery system is conducted before each election to determine whether the mayor’s post will be reserved for categories such as General, OBC Women, SC, or ST. This was the reservation status for the 2022 mayoral elections Before this, in 2014, this was the reservation status for the Mayor’s post Timeline of previous urban local body elections