The 73rd and 74th Amendments (Parts IX & IX

Articles 243D (Panchayats) and 243T (Municipalities) mandate reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and women in local self-government institutions. Importantly, the Constitution expressly provides for rotation of reserved constituencies, ensuring that the benefit of political reservation does not remain confined to specific territorial units. This mechanism promotes substantive equality, a principle recognized under Articles 14 and 15, by distributing political opportunity more evenly over time. The objective is to prevent permanent exclusion of non-reserved constituencies and to encourage inclusive political participation. In K. Krishna Murthy v. Union of India (2010), the Supreme Court upheld reservations in local bodies but emphasized that they must be based on empirical data and constitutional principles, reinforcing the balance between equality and representation.