Urban body elections in UP only after ensuring OBC quota, says Yogi after HC order

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that urban civic body elections will be held in the state only after reservation is provided to Other Backward Classes for which his government will set up a commission.

If necessary, the state government will approach the Supreme Court, the chief minister said after the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court quashed the state government’s draft notification on urban local body elections and ordered holding the polls without reservation for the OBCs.

Soon after the verdict, Adityanath took to Twitter to announce that the state government “will set up a commission for urban body general elections and provide reservation facilities to other backward class citizens on the basis of a triple test”.

“Only after this, the urban body general elections will be conducted,” he said.

The triple test formula, laid down by the Supreme Court, requires the states to appoint a commission, collect quantifiable data on the community, and allocate quota to them in local bodies in such a manner that the total reservation in each seat does not exceed 50 per cent.

“If necessary, the state government will also appeal to the Supreme Court after considering all the legal aspects regarding the decision of the High Court,” an official spokesman said quoting the CM.