BJP overcomes OBC quota hiccup, SP challenge, BSP hopes; has most OBC, Dalit winners in UP civic polls

The UP civic polls were supposed to be held in December 2022-January 2023. but the announcement of the dates for the elections was delayed over the issue of OBC reservations. A draft reservation issued by the UP government in December last year was challenged in court, forcing the state to form a five-member commission to study the representation of OBCs in ULBs. After the panel submitted its report on March 9, it was deposited in court, following whose consent, the state government issued a fresh draft of reserved posts for the ULB polls. After final notifications, the polls were finally announced in April.

The results show that among OBC candidates fielded by political parties in Nagar Panchayat chairperson seats, 90 of the BJP’s nominees were elected, which is higher than all other parties as well as Independents, who ended up with 83 wins. Out of the 544 Nagar panchayat chairperson seats, Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates won 38, while Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got 23.

Of the 90 OBC candidates of the BJP, 27 were elected in unreserved seats, while eight were elected in seats reserved only for women. Data shows the BJP won 55 of the 147 seats reserved for OBCs.

Among the SP’s 38 OBC winners, 14 were elected in unreserved seats, and two in seats reserved for women.

Out of the BSP’s 23 OBC winners, seven were elected in unreserved seats and three on seats reserved for women. Of the five Congress OBC candidates who won, only one had contested in an unreserved seat.

Among the 83 Independent OBC winners, 30 were elected in unreserved seats — three more than the number of OBC candidates elected in unreserved seats from the BJP. Six OBC Independents were elected in seats reserved for women.

Other parties to have OBC candidates elected were the RLD (5), AAP (4), RJD (2), Apna Dal (Sonelal) (1), Nishad Party (1) and Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) (2).

Of the 199 Nagar Palika Parishads, 53 chairpersons among which were reserved for OBCs (including OBC women), the BJP won 15 of the reserved seats. Eight other BJP OBC candidates won in unreserved seats, and three in seats reserved for women, bringing the total elected BJP OBC nominees for chairpersons to 26 — again, the highest among all parties in the fray.

In elections for the chairpersons of Nagar Palika Parishads, 22 OBC candidates of the SP were elected, including seven in unreserved seats. Likewise, 22 Independent OBC candidates were also elected, nine of whom were from unreserved seats. Among other elected OBC candidates, 10 were of the BSP, five of the RLD, two of the AIMIM, and one each of the Congress and the Apna Dal (S).

In 17 mayoral seats of municipal corporations, four were reserved for OBCs and two for Scheduled Castes (SC). The BJP won them all.

Out of the 84 SC-reserved seats for chairpersons in Nagar Panchayats, the BJP won a maximum of 37, followed by SP with 14, while the BSP won only five seats, with the Congress and the RLD getting one each. Among Independents, 31 SCs candidates were elected, five of whom were in unreserved seats. The SP won both the seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).

In the 24 seats reserved for SCs in Nagar Palika Parishads, the BJP won a maximum of nine, followed by the SP with 4, the BSP with 3, the Congress with 2 and the RLD with one, while Independents won 5 seats.

The results on SC-reserved seats were a setback for the BSP, whose existence is predicated on its Dalit vote base. They are also a setback for the SP, as party president Akhilesh Yadav had been trying to woo the non-Yadav OBCs, for which he had joined hands with smaller parties with non-Yadav OBC vote banks.