UP passes ordinance to amend urban body poll rules for OBC reservation

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday approved an ordinance to amend the rules of UP Nagar Nigam and Nagar Palika in light of recommendations of Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission for holding urban local bodies polls.

The state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath passed the proposal of the Urban Development development department in this regard, Minister AK Sharma told reporters.

"The ordinance is sent to the Governor for her assent. The cabinet has made its recommendations for the ordinance. We can give more information regarding this tomorrow," the minister said.

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The Supreme Court had on March 27 paved the way for holding the urban local body polls in UP as it allowed the State Election Commission to issue a notification within two days on an OBC quota considering the report of the Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission.

According to Sharma, a notification for the local body elections was issued on December 5, 2022, but several petitions were filed in court against the move.

In its order, the court had directed the formation of a dedicated commission to oversee the process of identifying the backwardness criteria for reservation.

A five-member commission headed by Justice (retired) Ram Avatar Singh was formed on December 28, a day after the Allahabad High Court order to hold the urban body polls without OBC quota.

The commission had submitted the report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath March 9 and it was accepted by the cabinet on March 10.

Earlier on January 4, the Supreme court had stayed the Allahabad High Court's December order directing the holding of the urban local body polls without any reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

On March 27, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala had said, "This court, in an order dated January 4, 2023, noted that in view of the decisions of this court, the government of Uttar Pradesh issued a notification for setting up the Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission in December 2022. Though the tenure of the commission was six months, it was to complete its task by March 31, 2023."

The state government had set up the Uttar Pradesh State Local Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission in pursuance of the top court's judgment to decide on the issue of quota, keeping in mind the political representation of different backward castes in the local bodies.

Earlier, the state government had moved the apex court with its appeal against a December 27, 2022 order of the high court, saying the latter cannot quash the draft notification issued on December 5, which provided for reservation of seats in the urban civic body polls for the OBCs, besides those reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and women.

The appeal said the OBCs are a constitutionally-protected section and the high court erred in quashing the draft notification.

After the high court's order, the state government appointed a five-member commission to go into the issue of OBC reservation in the urban local body polls.

The high court order had come on pleas challenging the preparation of the OBC reservation draft without following the "triple test" formula prescribed by the Supreme Court.

The triple test requires setting up a commission to hold a "rigorous empirical inquiry" into the nature of the "backwardness" in the context of the local bodies, specifying the proportion of reservation based on the commission's recommendations and ensuring that it does not exceed the overall 50-per cent quota limit.

The high court had held that the triple test condition formulated by the Supreme Court 11 years ago was mandatory.

"Until the triple test is completed in all respects by the state government, no reservation for a backward class of citizens shall be provided," the HC order had said.

In December last year, the state government issued a provisional list of reserved seats for the mayors of 17 municipal corporations, chairpersons of 200 municipal councils, and 545 nagar panchayats for the three-tier urban elections, and had sought suggestions and objections to the draft within seven days.

According to the draft notification, four mayoral seats -- Aligarh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Meerut and Prayagraj -- were reserved for OBC candidates. Of these, mayor's posts in Aligarh and Mathura-Vrindavan were reserved for OBC women.

In addition, 54 seats for chairpersons in the 200 municipal councils were reserved for OBCs, including 18 for women.

Among the seats for chairpersons in the 545 nagar panchayats, 147 were reserved for OBC candidates, including 49 for women.