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Journalism of Courage
THE Opposition has attacked the BJP government over the Allahabad High Court order directing that local body elections be held in Uttar Pradesh at the earliest without the provision of reservation for OBCs, as the state had not met the criteria required for the same. With OBCs crucial to the BJP’s prospects in UP, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said they would approach the Supreme Court but would not hold the polls without the quota. Maurya, the BJP’s OBC face in UP and Deputy CM, talks about the court order, and blames the Samajwadi Party for the impasse:
* In the wake of the Allahabad High Court order, the Opposition has accused the BJP government of not looking after the interests of OBCs.
Maurya: They (the Opposition parties) are agenda-less. The government has made it clear that it will not conduct the elections without reservation for OBCs, and will move the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order. We have made preparations for that. We are hopeful that the government will get to conduct the polls with reservation for OBCs.
The government wanted to conduct the polls on time by giving reservation to OBCs. With the same reservation system, elections were held in the past as well, under the governments of the Samajwadi Party and BJP too. (Under this system, reservation was provided on the basis of a rapid survey conducted to determine the population of backward classes in wards of different municipal bodies.)
* Why did the government not complete the process of meeting the requirements for the quota, despite knowing that the court was likely to insist on the same (before UP, the similar issue had risen in other states)?
Maurya: Local body elections without meeting the triple T requirement were held in 2012 under the Akhilesh Yadav government and in our government in 2017. Panchayat elections were also conducted without the triple T process. That is a separate, technical reason. We respect the court order but we are moving the Supreme Court. (The Supreme Court earlier directed that reservation should meet the triple test of empirical data, specification of the quota required, and meeting the 50% total ceiling.)
This time, Akhilesh Yadav did a conspiracy and got a case filed in the High Court through SP people, to entangle the elections and create an issue. This is purely an SP conspiracy. Check the relations of the main petitioner (Vaibhav Pandey) with the SP.
They (the Opposition) are issue-less people, they do not want the welfare of backwards and they are not able to accept Keshav Preasad Maurya as Deputy CM of UP for the second consecutive term. Entire SP is after me. They want that all the benefits should go only to the ‘Saifai Parivar’, of Akhilesh Yadav, Prof Ramgopal Yadav, Shivpal Singh Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Akshay Yadav, or Aditya Yadav… Entire nation has seen Akhilesh Yadav’s frustration in the UP Assembly.
* Will the government seek a stay on the High Court order directing that the elections be held, or seek time to complete the process required to provide reservation to OBCs?
Maurya: If elections are conducted now, these would have to be held without OBC reservation. We will not conduct the elections without OBC reservation… We had earlier implemented a reservation system on a survey basis. A rapid survey was done. A commission for a survey regarding reservation will be constituted now.
* Will the court order be politically damaging for the BJP?
Maurya: There would be no harm to the BJP. The complete ‘Triveni’ of backwards, forwards and Dalits is with the BJP. That is the cause of anxiousness and frustration in the SP, BSP and Congress. All these sections are with the BJP at present.
* Now local body elections are going to be delayed. Will this hurt the BJP’s Lok Sabha poll preparations?
Maurya: We will try and get relief from the Supreme Court and activate the commission (for OBC quotas) as soon as possible. We wanted the elections to be held on time, but Akhilesh Yadav & Company created hurdles… We are ready for the ‘Triple T’ process too, but it will take time.
* You recently announced a plan for ‘Gram Chaupals’ by the Rural Development Department in villages every Friday.
Maurya: In every district, there will be a Gram Chaupal every Friday to redress village problems at the village itself. I will take part in the Gram Chupals of three villages of Varanasi on December 30 and launch the programme. Ongoing development works will be inspected and estimation done of other proposed projects at the chaupals. Problems will be heard and resolved on the spot. After one month, officials will revisit the same village. The objective is to improve the living environment in the villages of UP, which hold 73% of its population.
