By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 10 Dec: Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) is learnt to have approved the Ordinance for OBC reservations in the Uttarakhand municipal elections today. With this approval, the path for early municipal elections in Uttarakhand appears clear now. Official sources confirmed that the Governor today approved the ordinance for OBC reservation in municipal bodies. This approval allows the process of implementing OBC reservation for the civic elections to commence based on the ordinance.
Sources state that the Law Department had given its go ahead to the ordinance for the civic elections just a day earlier and sent it to the Raj Bhavan with its legal opinion. Today, the Governor approved the ordinance. The Raj Bhavan had sought the Law Department’s opinion in this regard before approving the ordinance.
Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal today stated that with the Governor’s approval of the OBC reservation ordinance, the government will proceed towards the municipal elections by determining the reservations in the OBC category based on the provisions of the ordinance. Once the reservation is decided, public objections will be sought. After addressing the objections, a proposal in this regard would be presented to the State Election Commission.
It may be recalled that a single member commission had recently submitted its report in respect of the OBC reservations in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) for the civic elections and the reservations of the wards will be done accordingly. The notification for civic elections is expected to be issued by the end of this month. Though, the government has been claiming that the municipal elections are likely to be held in December, itself, it looks highly unlikely but can be held early in January. Agarwal mentioned that the government will now work swiftly regarding the municipal elections, as the biggest obstacle, OBC reservation, has been cleared. The reservation of the bodies is expected to take about a week, followed by a three-day period for public objections. After resolving the objections, the reservation list will be sent to the State Election Commission.
Speaking to media persons during an informal conversation, Aggarwal emphasised that BJP workers remain alert round the clock and that they are ready for the municipal elections as well like disciplined soldiers. Aggarwal also claimed that BJP will succeed in the civic elections as well.
The BJP has already started preparations for the civic elections, gathering information about the claimants of the bodies and appointing in-charges. After the appointment of in-charges, a meeting was held by the National General Secretary of the BJP organisation, Dushyant Gautam during his recent visit to the state. The in-charges are now visiting their respective areas and engaging with the workers. Preparations at the party level will intensify once the government makes its decision.
