UP Municipal Polls: Reservation Doldrums and Yogi Ambitions

Overtly, the misdeeds of Samajwadi Party is the reason behind the OBC reservation problem today. Also the problem arose due to family-politics of the Samajwadi Party.

When Samajwadi Party was in rule, there were dozens of MLAs with many ministers who belonged to one family. And the same culture was followed by their MLAs too.

One Samajwadi Party MLA, who used to hold a high position in a municipality of Rae Bareli district, feels in trouble this time due to being it an OBC reserved seat, then it looks like  this legal trick has been created deliberately.

When the MLA started troubling the government by the PIL filings through his close friends, the Samajwadi Party people enjoyed the family-ism a lot.

Due to their electoral interests, those who filed the PILs and the ones who got the PILs filed, demanded in the court that if the government takes time to collect data by constituting a commission, then the elections should be conducted without OBC reservation.

On the other hand, the BJP government says that according to the law of its state, the rapid survey which was done in the last 12 years of panchayat and body elections, has been done.

On the basis of this, the notification issued on December 5, 2022, gives 27% reservation to the OBCs on all types of seats and posts, which is neither less nor more than the norm.

In spite of all this, the close friends of the Samajwadi Party MLA continued their written and oral arguments against OBC reservation in the High Court and they continued the legal battles towards depriving the OBCs of the reservation because they wanted their seats as general.

The government has constituted the commission as per the decision of the High Court and has stated that it will conduct elections only after giving reservation to the OBCs.

See the double standard of Samajwadi Party. When the lawyer of its MLA were pleading in the High Court to hold elections without OBC reservation, the Samajwadi Party people kept mum.

Significantly, the SP MLA’s lawyer argued against the interest of the OBC community, the High Court itself has mentioned it in its decision. It is mentioned in the judgment of the court in paragraph-5.7, 5.8, 5.9.

When the decision has come now according to the wishes of Samajwadi Party’s petitioners and when family-ism prevailes over the backward classes now, the people of Samajwadi Party are blaming the BJP.

The High Court has instructed to set up a commission and conduct triple test through it and hold elections while determining OBC reservation. The Yogi government is moving ahead in this direction.

Urban Development Minister Shri AK Sharma has immediately made it clear that necessary survey will be done by forming a commission. Along with this, Mr. AK Sharma has also said that elections will not be held without OBC reservation. If need  be, the government will go to the Supreme Court.

While the entire OBC community seems to be at a loss on the instructions of a particular SP leader, the whole government is clearly standing in favor of OBC reservation, which can be clearly seen from the official statement of Urban Development Minister Mr. Sharma.

The state government had issued a provisional notification of reservation on December 5 in the direction of giving complete reservation to the OBC class, in which 27 percent reservation was decided for OBCs on all types of seats and posts. It is clear that the state government wants to continue the same policy of giving full reservation.

Read this also: Reservation: Is It An Opium For Masses Or A Support To Classes?

But due to having an OBC seat in a civic body, a senior SP leader was not able to contest his family member from there which made him harm the interest of entire OBC community. The consent of the top leaders of SP is clearly visible in this.

But Yogi ji and AK Sharma seems determined to give the OBC community their rights. The intention of the government is clearly visible, that’s why the government constituted the commission within 24 hours of the order of the court and the commission also started its initial meetings. And the state government filed the SLP for the OBC reservation in the Supreme Court within 36 hours, in which also is consists of Supreme Court’s decision and the state government seems determined to conduct the elections by giving adequate reservation to the OBCs as per the rules.