SC gives green signal to UP civic elections with OBC reservation

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to accept the report of the state government-appointed OBC Commission, paving the way for the state’s urban local body (ULB) elections.

“The government was committed to OBC reservation and took all the action within the time limit given by the Supreme Court. Following the rules of reservation in a lawful manner, the Uttar Pradesh government is committed to conduct urban body elections in a time-bound manner,” UP CM said. The Supreme Court on Monday gave the green signal to conduct civic polls in Uttar Pradesh with OBC reservation and directed the State Election Commission to issue election notification within two days.

The Supreme Court has accepted the report of the OBC Commission constituted by the Yogi Government regarding the civic elections. The top court’s order has dealt a severe blow to the opposition’s plans to obstruct OBC reservation in civic elections.

The opposition attempted to sway the government’s decision by filing a petition in the High Court regarding OBC reservation in civic elections. During the hearing, the High Court made the decision to hold the civic body elections without OBC reservation, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stated that the state government was committed to all sections of society.

Following this, the government established the OBC commission and filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the High Court’s decision. On which, while hearing on March 27, the Supreme Court directed the commission constituted to ensure OBC reservation to file its report by March 31, prohibiting the order of the High Court to hold immediate elections.

The commission visited 75 districts to prepare its report, which it submitted to the government on March 9 after the survey.

On the other hand, the government filed the commission’s report and recommendations in the Supreme Court on March 15.