Harleen Kaur Grewal

Uttar Pradesh, March 15, 2021: The High Court has given its verdict on how reservation will happen in the UP Panchayat elections. The court has said that the reservation list should be prepared this time with due consideration given to the reservation made in 2015 as the base. This decision of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court is considered a setback for the Yogi government. The High Court has also directed the government to conduct panchayat elections by 25 May. The reservation list will be re-created after this decision, which will change the electoral equations in many Gram Panchayats.

While giving a decision on the petition filed on behalf of Ajay Kumar, the High Court asked the State Government and the State Election Commission to complete the work by considering 2015 as the base year of reservation. Earlier, the state government said in the court that they are ready to implement the reservation system in the three-tier elections by considering 2015 as the base year. The court has ordered the Panchayat elections to be completed by 25 May. The court has said that the reservation list should also be finalized by 27 March. Ajay Kumar filed a petition in the High Court challenging the state government’s order of 11 February 2011. Hearing this, the High Court had stayed the final reservation list.

Following the High Court’s ban on the existing reservation system, the claimants who started publishing poster-banners have received a major setback. They are now beginning to fear that the seat may not get out of hand due to the reservation system of 2015. However, those contenders, who were disappointed with this reservation list, are hoping that the new system might change something. If there is a reversal of seats, then they may get a chance to enter the electoral arena from their desired seat. The decision of the court has brought disappointment to many. Significantly, in UP, the government introduced a new reservation system. Due to the issuance of a provisional reservation list from this arrangement, many claimants were eliminated from the field. He objected to the list. The district administration, now disposing of their objections, now had to issue a final list.