‘Will only hold civic elections with OBC quota’: Yogi Adityanath after HC verdict

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LUCKNOW: Hours after the Allahabad high court ordered Uttar Pradesh to hold civic body polls in the state without reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC), chief minister Yogi Adityanath declared that the state will not hold elections to urban local bodies till a commission to finalise OBC reservation settles the issue.

The chief minister did not elaborate on his announcement. People familiar with the matter said the chief minister’s sharp reaction to the high court ruling implied that the government will stand its ground on OBC reservations in the civic polls. For one, the people said, the government is expected to quickly set up the commission ordered by the high court to gather empirical evidence needed to justify the OBC reservation and also possibly approach the Supreme Court.

OBCs, along with Dalits, have been the mainstay of BJP’s successes in the state since 2014 and have been widely credited for the party’s second consecutive win in the 2022 UP poll with the same chief minister at the helm, a first in over three decades.

Also Read: Immediately notify UP civic polls without OBC quota, orders Allahabad high court

Soon after a two-judge bench of the high court quashed the December 5 draft government order proposing OBC reservations in elections to urban local bodies till the three conditions stipulated by the Supreme Court are met, the chief minister quickly announced that his government will ensure that the ‘triple test’ is adhered to.

The “triple test” envisages the appointment of panels to gather empirical data for quantifying the extent and backwardness local body-wise, and ensuring the quota does not exceed the 50% ceiling.

“My government will only opt for elections once a commission is set up and reservation benefits to OBCs in local body polls are ensured through the triple test method. If required, the state government would, in pursuance of the high court’s directives, also take legal opinion on moving the apex court,” Adityanath said after the opposition united to attack the BJP government for the high court verdict.

UP has 762 urban local bodies, 109 more than in 2017, including 17 mayoral seats, 200 nagar palika parishads and 545 nagar panchayats.

Soon after the high court quashed the government’s draft notification on civic elections with OBC quotas, virtually all ministers including the government’s prominent OBC faces such as deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and jal shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh pledged to not let OBC rights be hurt at any cost. Leader of the opposition in the assembly and chief of Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP government of shedding ‘crocodile tears’ and alleged that the BJP will next also try to snatch rights of Dalits.

“That is why Dalits and OBCs must come together to defeat this BJP government’s plan. Remove BJP, save reservation,” Akhilesh said. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), an ally of the SP, echoed a similar line.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government. “The HC decision establishes the anti-OBC, anti-reservation mindset of BJP and its government,” she said in a post on Twitter.

“The OBCs will surely make the BJP government pay for its mistake of not getting the OBC reservation fixed through triple test method on time,” she added.

Shivpal Yadav, the SP chief’s uncle, who has only recently merged his party with SP, said: “Probably, an agitation bigger than what was required to get reservation, is now needed to save it. Cadres be ready.”

The problem for the government was that even its own allies, like Apna Dal (S), an OBC party largely comprising kurmis, an influential backward caste, squirmed uneasily.

“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,” Apna Dal (S) said on Twitter.

Sanjay Nishad, a cabinet minister and BJP ally in UP, who heads Nishad Party, an OBC party comprising riverine communities, said, “We have spoken to the chief minister. The HC ruling makes it clear that there are discrepancies on the reservation issue and these need to be sorted out so that backwards, like my riverine community, are able to enjoy reservation benefits.”

Another former OBC ally of the BJP, whose chief Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, is edging closer to the BJP again, too said, “HC is not the final authority. The option of SC is open as well.”

Urban development minister AK Sharma subsequently held a meeting and echoed the same line about OBC rights to be protected.

“In the notification for the polls, issued on December 5, the state government had provided for 27% reservation to OBCs,” Sharma said. “Everyone knows who were those who had appealed against OBC reservation in the court. It is important to note that the petitioners had themselves prayed before the court that civic polls, 2022, be held sans OBC reservation,” he said in a statement issued by his office.


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