Bihar BJP seeks Guv's intervention in deferment of civic polls

Patna: A delegation of Bihar BJP leaders has met Governor Phagu Chouhan and sought his intervention in the deferment of civic polls in the light of the Patna High Court declaring "illegal" reservation of seats for Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes. The saffron party's OBC morcha leaders, led by its president Jaynath Chauhan, also submitted a memorandum to the governor during the meeting on Friday.

In a circular issued on October 4 following the high court order, the State Election Commission informed all the district magistrates that both phases of the elections, scheduled on October 10 and October 20, stand deferred. "The high court observed that the current reservation of seats for OBCs and extremely backward classes was illegal since the Bihar government failed to set up a dedicated commission to quantify backwardness for giving reservation in local body polls," one of the saffron party leaders said, citing the memorandum.

The Patna High Court on October 4 declared as "illegal" reservation of seats for Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes for elections to municipal bodies in Bihar and ordered that polls be held only after treating such berths as those of general category. The court also advised the state government that it should "consider enacting a comprehensive legislation pertaining to reservations in elections to local bodies, urban or rural, to bring the state seamlessly in line with the directions issued by the Apex Court".