CM Yogi Adityanath has decided to conduct triple test for reservation and has also constituted a commission for this. CM Yogi has also talked about going to the Supreme Court if needed. In such a situation, there are many questions regarding the local body elections, let us know their answers.
The Lucknow bench of the High Court has given a jolt to the Uttar Pradesh government.
UP body elections OBC Reservation Within hours of the cancellation decision UP government Has taken a big step. UP CM Yogi Adityanath has decided to conduct triple test for reservation and has also constituted a commission for this. CM Yogi has also talked about going to the Supreme Court if needed. so the local body elections There are many questions regarding which everyone wants to know the answers. Let us know the answers to such questions.
1-Why the High Court canceled the OBC reservation
Elections are to be held in 760 urban bodies in the state. For this, the state government had announced reservation based on the survey of Other Backward Classes (OBC) conducted in 2017. In fact, the government was determining the backward castes on the basis on which they were considered suitable for jobs and education. Several petitions were filed against this in the Lucknow bench of the High Court. After this, the court had stayed the election. The court had said that the state government has not followed the Supreme Court’s guideline of triple test in reservation. The government had cited the survey conducted in 2017 as the basis, but the court rejected this and canceled the reservation.
2-Government will be heard in the Supreme Court
Even if the UP government goes to the Supreme Court, there is little scope for the government’s argument to be heard there. A similar situation had arisen in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar as well, all the three governments had gone to the Supreme Court, but the government had asked everyone to conduct a triple test. However, Bihar had announced elections even before the copy of the order reached. The hearing of the case is still going on in the court.
3- What is the option with the UP government?
After the order was issued by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, the UP government has no option at present. According to senior journalist Ashok Bagadia, the government can only go to the Supreme Court. In fact, before UP, a similar situation has developed in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra. Maharashtra government even brought an ordinance for OBC reservation. However, the Supreme Court did not accept it. Later, the commission had recommended reservation and elections were held on that basis. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also adopted the same formula in Madhya Pradesh. The dates for the civic body elections in Bihar have been announced, the elections for the first phase have also been held, but the matter is still going on in the Supreme Court.
4- Does the government have the option of postponing the elections?
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the government to hold elections as soon as possible. According to senior journalist Ashok Bagadia, this does not mean that elections have to be held immediately. Because it is a complete process, first notifications are issued, nominations are made, elections are held. The order means that elections should be held by January 2023, when the tenure of most of the local bodies is coming to an end. It is also in the constitution that elections should be held before the end of the term. The court has also said in its order that the process of setting up the commission will take time, it does not mean that elections will not be held until the process is completed.
5-On what basis was the ban on elections lifted in Bihar?
The Bihar State Election Commission had first announced the date of elections on October 10 and 20, but it was stayed after a petition was filed in the Patna High Court regarding the issue of reservation. The argument of the High Court was that the system that the government is telling to give reservation to OBC and EBC is against the triple test formula of the Supreme Court. That is why all the seats were made general. Even when the matter reached the Supreme Court, the decision came against the Nitish government only. However, even before the decision reached the government, the State Election Commission had fixed the dates for the body elections in two phases. The Supreme Court has not interfered in this. One phase of elections has been done, the second phase of voting is on 28th December. However, the matter is going on in the Supreme Court and the next hearing will be on January 20.
Why Supreme Court had to order for elections in Madhya Pradesh
Similar situation was created in UP as well in Madhya Pradesh, where Shivraj Singh Chouhan gave OBC reservation without triple test and elections were also announced. There also the High Court had given a decision to hold elections without reservation. After this, the Shivraj government appealed in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had also expressed displeasure over giving OBC reservation without adopting the triple test. Shivraj had filed a review petition, in which OBC reservation was approved on the basis of the report of the State Backward Classes Commission. However, the Supreme Court had clarified that the total reservation (SC+ST+OBC) should not exceed 50 percent.
7-Is there a triple test on the basis of which the backward list will be made?
The triple test formula was given by the Supreme Court in the case of Krishnarao Gawli vs. State of Maharashtra. Under this, for OBC reservation, the backward class of the state will tell whether there is a need to give reservation to the backward class or not. If necessary then how much should be there. For this, in the first phase, a special commission should be constituted to examine the backwardness of the backward classes. The state government has to give reservation according to the recommendation of the commission and the third criterion is that SC ST or OBC reserved seats should not be more than 50%.
8- Why backward commission had to be formed in a hurry
After the order of the Lucknow bench, the UP government was left with no option. Since the verdict, the opposition parties were attacking and calling it a conspiracy of the BJP. Former CM Akhilesh Yadav himself had said that today anti-reservation BJP is showing sympathy on the subject of OBC reservation in the body elections. In view of this, according to the order of the Supreme Court, the government constituted a commission to conduct a triple test only for the system of reservation. CM Yogi Adityanath himself informed about this through a tweet.
9- What was the arrangement till now to declare the seat of backward castes?
According to the argument given by the UP government by filing an affidavit in the High Court bench, in 2017, along with the detailed process, instructions were issued to identify the OBC population for the civic elections. The government claims that it is the first condition of the triple test formula. The government’s argument was also that SC-ST and OBC reservation should not be more than 50%. However, the court has not accepted this arrangement.
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