Following the green signal by the Supreme Court on Monday, the schedule for the municipal election is likely to be announced by the end of the second week of April. The apex court on Monday gave the green signal to conduct civic polls in Uttar Pradesh with OBC reservation.

The Urban Development department will work out the poll schedule which will be notified by the State Election Commission. The state government has the powers to decide the poll schedule while conducting the elections is the responsibility of the Commission. The Urban Development department is working on incorporating the recommendations of  the dedicated OBCs panel for the reservation of seats for the OBCs in its earlier notification issued in December last year.

Following the Supreme Court nod, the state government has re-initiated the process to identify the seats of mayor, chairman of nagar palika parishad and nagar panchayat to be reserved for the OBCs. 

As per the schedule drawn by the state government, the process of claims and objections on reservation of seats for the OBCs has to be completed by April 10.  Later, this will be handed over to the State Election Commission for notification.

The Urban Development department had notified the interim reservation of seats for the OBCs for urban local bodies on December 5, 2022.  

Before the issue of the final notification, the matter was challenged in the Allahabad High Court. Following the high court verdict of holding the elections without reservation of seats for the OBCs, the state government constituted a dedicated commission for OBCs. The terms of reference of the commission was to identify the seats to be reserved for the OBCs.  The acceptance of the commission’s report by the government suggests that the earlier notification for the reservation of seats for the OBCs will undergo major changes.

Urban Development department sources said that the UP Nagar Nigam, Nagar Palika (reservation of seats) rules, 1994 would also have to be amended to incorporate the recommendation of the dedicated commission for the OBCs. The Urban Development department is preparing the draft for seeking the approval of the cabinet for amendment in rules.

The notification of reservation for OBCs was challenged in the high court, which in its verdict, directed for holding the elections immediately without OBC reservation.

The state government constituted the dedicated OBC commission and challenged the high court order in the Supreme Court.

The apex court on March 27 directed the commission to ensure OBC reservation and file its report by March 31. The apex court also allowed the report of the commission.

The commission visited 75 districts to prepare its report and submitted the report to the government on March 9. The report and recommendations of the commission were filed by the government in the Supreme Court on March 15.