Allahabad HC bins UP govt’s notification on OBC reservation, CM Yogi may move SC

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ordered the UP government to hold the polls without reservation for the Other Backward Classes.

The Lucknow bench of the high court ordered that the state government should notify the polls “immediately” as the term of several municipalities would end by January 31.

Following this the state’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said he will move the Supreme Court regarding the same, a report by Hindustan Times has said.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has rejected the Uttar Pradesh government’s draft notification on the civic polls and ordered holding the elections without reservation for the OBCs.

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has rejected the state government’s argument that it had conducted a rapid survey, which they claimed is as good as the Triple Test Formula. 

The triple test formula is a method to conduct a thorough research and study and requires the authority to appoint a commission, collect quantifiable data on the community, and allocate reservation to them in local bodies. This need to be done in such a way that the total reservation in each seat does not exceed 50%.

“The government will take a final decision on urban local body polls after consulting legal experts on all aspects of the court order,” Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tweeted. He also added that under no circumstances will the state government compromise on the issue of OBC rights.

It is to be noted that four mayoral seats which includes Aligarh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Meerut, and Prayagraj are reserved for OBC candidates. In the 5 December draft these have been mentioned along with the fact that Aligarh and Mathura-Vrindavan are reserved for OBC women.

Apart from the fifty four chairpersons’ seats in the 200 municipal councils are also reserved for OBCs. Among these 18 seats are reserved for OBC women. For the chairpersons’ seats in 545 nagar panchayats, 147 seats were reserved for OBC candidates, including 49 for OBC women.

CM Adityanath said the state government will set up a commission to decide on the issue of OBC reservation in the urban local body elections.

The Hindustan Times report stated that Apna Dal (S), an OBC party, which shares power with BJP in the state has also stated that in their view holding civic polls without OBC reservation wasn’t justified. “We will study the HC order in detail before taking a final decision but if required, we will even approach the Supreme Court on the issue,” the party tweeted its stand from its verified handle.

The plan to provide reservation to OBCs without the top court-mandated survey drew criticism from the opposition Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj chief Mayawati, and a petition was filed in the High Court, objecting to the government’s move. The petitioners had contended that the state government must follow the Supreme Court’s formula and form a commission to study the political backwardness of OBCs before fixing reservation.

Following the high court order, the opposition parties including Samajwadi Party have now cornered the ruling government alleging that it conspired to end OBC quota. “We wont tolerate this injustice,” said SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.