No OBC quota in urban local body polls in UP, rules Allahabad HC

The HC said that 'prima facie' it appeared that the UP govt hadn't followed the three question test for determining the quota

In a setback to the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday quashed the state government's draft notification on reservation for the OBC in the urban local body polls and ordered for holding the polls without OBC reservation.

A division bench comprising justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and justice Sourabh Srivastava also quashed another notification of the state government on appointment of administrators in those urban bodies whose tenure were scheduled to end shortly.

The court, in its order, said that ''prima facie'' it appeared that the state government had not followed the triple test formula in determining quota for the OBCs as directed by the Supreme Court.

The court directed the state government to hold the urban local bodies polls without the OBC quota.

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While chief minister Yogi Adityanath made it clear that the state government was committed to provide OBC quota in the urban local bodies polls and that the government would also move the high court to challenge the HC order, the opposition parties accused the BJP government of conspiring to deprive the OBC of quota.

''BJP is shedding crocodile tears on the issue of reservation for the OBC in the urban local bodies polls.....this government failed to plead the case effectively in the HC....it is an anti-OBC and anti-Dalit government,'' said SP president Akhilesh Yadav here.

BSP supremo Mayawati also slammed the state government and said that BJP was against reservation. ''The state government did not follow the supreme court guidelines in determining the OBC quota and as a result the court quashed the notification....the OBC communities will certainly punish the BJP for this,'' she said.

UP minister and leader of the Apna Dal (AD), an alliance partner of the BJP, Ashish Patel said that the urban local bodies polls should not be held without OBC reservation.