After the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday quashed Uttar Pradesh government's Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in urban local body elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his government is committed to bring the reservation.
Adityanath said his government would follow the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court and bring OBC reservations in local body elections in UP.
Though the Allahabad High Court ordered UP government to "immediately" notify urban local body polls, Adityanath said elections will only be announced after finding a way to enable OBC reservation. His sharp stance comes as the Opposition blames his government for the "anti-OBC" development.
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Notably, the High Court ruling and the backlash comes at the onset of 2023, a politically significant year when all parties will iron out their narratives with the 2024 general election in mind. Uttar Pradesh has the maxium 80 Lok Sabha seats in the country and is electorally crucial for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to retain.
What's the OBC reservation issue?
Earlier this month, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led UP government issued a provisional list of reserved seats for mayors of 17 municipal corporations, chairpersons of 200 municipal councils, and 545 nagar panchayats for the three-tier urban elections. It included OBC reservation as well.
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According to the draft notification, four mayoral seats —Aligarh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Meerut, Prayagraj— were reserved for OBC candidates. Of these, the mayor's posts in Aligarh and Mathura-Vrindavan were reserved for OBC women.
In addition, 54 chairpersons' seats in the 200 municipal councils were reserved for OBCs, including 18 for OBC women. Among the chairpersons' seats in 545 nagar panchayats, 147 seats were reserved for OBC candidates, including 49 for OBC women.
The UP government had sought suggestions and objections to this draft within seven days.
Deciding on several petitions filed against the notification, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court annuled the notification and ordered that the UP government should notify the polls “immediately” as the term of several municipalities would end by January 31.
The basis of Allahabad HC ruling, what's 'triple test'?
The Allahabad High Court's ruling is on the basis of UP government's notification not fulfilling "triple test" laid down by the Supreme Court.
The triple tests are three pre-conditions to provide such reservation. The Supreme Court set the following three conditions in the in the judgement of Vikas Kishanrao Gawali Vs. State of Maharashtra (2021):
(1) to set up a dedicated Commission to conduct contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness of the population in context of political participation
(2) to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body wise in light of recommendations of the Commission, so as not to fall foul of overbreadth;
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(3) in any case such reservation shall not exceed aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together.
The SC in the judgement further said the reservation cannot be notified without meeting these conditions."
In a given local body, the space for providing such reservation in favour of OBCs may be available at the time of issuing election programme (notifications). However, that could be notified only upon fulfilling the aforementioned preconditions...To put it differently, it will not be open to respondents to justify the reservation for OBCs without fulfilling the triple test, referred to above," said the SC judgement, as per a copy available online.
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The Allahabad High Court directed the state election commission to hold the elections by January 31, after transferring the OBC seats in the draft notification to the general category.
What did UP CM Yogi Adityanath, BJP government respond?
Amid backlash over the Allahabad High Court ruling, Adityanath said the elections will be announced only after finding a way out to provide the OBC reservation.
If necessary, the state government will approach the Supreme Court, said Adityanath.
Adityanath said the state government will set up a commission on urban body elections and provide reservation to the OBC on the basis of the triple test.
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"Only after this, the urban body general elections will be conducted. If necessary, the state government will also appeal to the Supreme Court after considering all legal aspects regarding the decision of the High Court," an official spokesperson said, quoting the CM.
UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, however, said there would not be any compromise on the rights of the OBC.
BJP ally Apna Dal (S) also said elections should only happen with OBC reservation.
Apna Dal (S) working president Ashish Patel, who is a minister in the BJP-led government, said elections without the OBC reservation were “not fair from any point of view”.
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Patel said the judgment was being studied.
“If needed, the party will appeal in the Supreme Court for the rights of the Backward,” Patel told PTI.
Political backlash over OBC reservation ruling
The Samajwadi Party has mounted an attack on the Adityanath-led BJP government in UP.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav questioned the “anti-reservation BJP” for “showing sympathy” on OBC reservation in the urban body elections.
“Today, the BJP has taken away the reservation rights of the backward people, tomorrow the BJP will also take away the reservation given by Babasaheb (Ambedkar) to Dalits,” he tweeted.
He appealed to the Backward and Dalits to support the SP in the “fight to save reservation."
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Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati tweeted that the HC decision "revealed the anti-OBC and anti-reservation thinking and mentality of the BJP and its government”.
SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav termed Tuesday’s development unfortunate.
(With PTI inputs)
