By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 17 Dec: The Urban Development Directorate received 53 objections on the first day of issuing the provisional reservation list for the Uttarakhand civic elections. These objections were lodged by, both, the opposition Congress party and ruling party MLAs. The highest number of objections, 28, were received regarding Landhaura Nagar Panchayat in Haridwar. While objections at the body level are submitted to the Directorate, ward-level objections are given to the District Officer, potentially leading to hundreds of objections across the state.
The Congress party has strongly reacted to the reservation list, accusing it of undermining the Constitution. Several senior Congress leaders including veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat and PCC Chief Karan Mahara have argued that in the municipal bodies with fewer than 10,000 Scheduled Caste individuals, these communities were not given representation, violating their fundamental rights.
The opposition leaders claimed that this situation reveals the true nature of the BJP. They stated that the reservation should have been decided by the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly, which had been constituted by the Speaker to make recommendations in this respect. They claimed that the Select Committee was supposed to submit its report within six months and pass it through a special session, which did not happen.
On the other hand, member of the Select Committee and former two-time Mayor of Dehradun, Vinod Chamoli has rejected the claims of the Opposition, claiming that the reservations have been determined on the basis of the population and in strict adherence to the Constitutional provisions.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also responded by saying that reservations are determined based on population and cannot meet everyone’s preferences. He assured that objections are currently being reviewed, and further action will be taken accordingly. Urban Development Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal echoed this sentiment, stating that once objections are resolved, the election process will proceed.
