The Allahabad high court on Wednesday directed the State Election Commission to hold panchayati raj elections in Uttar Pradesh within three months.
Reservation Exercise and Election Timeline
The petitioners had also challenged the state government’s decision to appoint administrators following the expiry of the tenure of the pradhans. The government contended that the election of gram pradhans and members of gram panchayats cannot be held until the exercise is completed. Till date, the OBC Commission has not submitted its report. We will give a detailed reaction only after going through the full court order. Why did the government allow a situation to arise in which the high court had to intervene and prescribe a deadline? “Only after going through the court’s order, legal advice on the issue could be obtained.
Uttar Pradesh has 125.85 million panchayat voters compared to 122.95 million in 2021, according to EC data .
Panchayatiraj minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said, “We welcome the high court’s decision. “As BJP feared that public discontent in rural areas could manifest against the party in the polls, potentially impacting the upcoming assembly elections, it was delaying the panchayat elections,” UP Congress president Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ said. Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abbas Haider said, “Why were these elections not conducted on time? BJP chief spokesperson Dinesh Pratap Singh said the state government was waiting for the high court’s order. Thereafter, the government will decide accordingly,” Singh said.
A bench comprising justices Ajit Kumar and Garima Prashad passed the order on a bunch of petitions, seeking a direction to the State Election Commission to place on record a detailed time-bound schedule for completion of the panchayat election process well before the expiry of the district panchayats’ tenure. Earlier, the state government counsel had submitted before the high court that the state government had appointed an OBC Commission for determining the reservation status for the conduct of the elections.
