Urban Body Polls: UP To Set Up Panel, Give Reservation To OBCs, Says Adityanath After HC Verdict

PILs challenged the OBC reservation draft's preparation without following the Supreme Court's triple test formula, which led to the verdict.

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that UP govt will set up a commission in the perspective of urban body general elections and will provide reservation facility to the citizens of Other Backward Classes on the basis of triple test.

"If needed, State Government will also appeal in the Supreme Court after considering all the legal aspects of the decision of the High Court," the CM said in his Tweets.

On Tuesday, the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench ordered the OBCs to vote without reservation and rejected the state government's draft notification on urban local body elections, reported news agency PTI. The decision was passed by a division bench of Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Saurav Lavania.

The Uttar Pradesh government's December 5 draft notification for the reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in urban local body elections was also annulled by a division bench composed of Justices DK Upadhyay and Saurav Lavania.

PILs challenged the OBC reservation draft's preparation without following the Supreme Court's triple test formula, which led to the verdict.

Before making a reservation, the petitioners had demanded that the state government follow the Supreme Court's formula and set up a special commission to investigate OBCs' political backwardness.

The state government argued that it had carried out a quick survey that was as effective as the triple test method.

The hearing on the issue of urban local body elections, which had been postponed for two weeks, was concluded on Saturday by the Lucknow bench.

The seat, which broke for its winter vacation on Saturday, said it would hear the case during the recess as the matter related to nearby bodies' races and a majority rule government.

For the three-tier urban local body elections, the state government had earlier this month released a provisional list of reserved seats for mayors of 17 municipal corporations, chairpersons of 200 municipal councils, and 545 nagar panchayats. It asked for suggestions and objections within seven days.

OBC candidates were allotted four mayoral seats in the draft of December 5: Aligarh, Meerut, Mathura-Vrindavan, and Prayagraj. OBC women were given preference for the mayor's positions in Aligarh and Mathura-Vrindavan.

In addition, OBC women were given 18 of the 54 chairperson positions in the 200 municipal councils that were reserved for OBC men. In 545 nagar panchayats, 147 seats for chairpersons were allocated to OBC candidates, including 49 seats for OBC women.