Bihar govt falls in line, gets HC nod for civic polls

On October 4, the HC had declared the quotas in the municipal polls “illegal” and held that fresh polls be held by “re-notifying” the reserved seats as those belonging to the general category.

Decks were cleared for urban local body polls in Bihar, which were earlier scheduled in two phases on October 10 and October 20 but had to be cancelled, after the state government on Wednesday told the Patna high court that it was ready to form a dedicated commission in line with the Supreme Court order and go by its report for holding the elections with quota to other backward classes (OBCs) and extremely backward classes (EBCs).

According to an official in the state election commission (SEC), fresh elections could be possible in the next 2-3 months. (HT Photo)

By evening, the government also notified the dedicated commission, with JD(U) leader Naveen Arya as its chairman, besides naming three other members.

On October 4, the HC had declared the quotas in the municipal polls “illegal” and held that fresh polls be held by “re-notifying” the reserved seats as those belonging to the general category.

During the hearing on the review petition filed by the Bihar government against the October 4 order, which continued for over five hours, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sanjay Kumar did not seem inclined to the state government’s contention, following which the state agreed to go by the SC guidelines and form a dedicated commission.

“The government will notify the existing extremely backward class commission as the dedicated commission to seek a report for holding the municipal elections on that basis. As soon as the report is tabled, elections will be held without delay,” said Vikas Singh, the Supreme Court advocate who appeared for the state government.

“We submitted that the state government was willing to fulfil the criteria laid down by the Supreme Court, which the high court had cited while striking down the reservation system,” advocate general Lalit Kishor told PTI.

According to an official in the state election commission (SEC), fresh elections could be possible in the next 2-3 months.

The cancellation of municipal elections in the light of the HC order had snowballed into a major controversy, with opposition BJP and ruling JD-U branding each other as being “anti-reservation”.

Soon after the HC hearing, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi hit out at the Bihar government. “Nitish Kumar had to face embarrassment and surrender before the HC. His arrogance has been shredded. Had he taken the same decision earlier, as we had been consistently saying, things would not have reached such a pass. Candidates preparing for polls underwent unnecessary hassles and wasteful expenditure. Nitish Kumar should apologise to the people of Bihar, especially the EBCs, for making them suffer due to his arrogance. How could he even think of going ahead with elections in disregard to the SC guidelines and come up with his own cheap logic? He is the only one responsible for delaying elections,” he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha also hit out at Kumar. “Had the government been sensitive, it would have formed the dedicated commission at least after the HC order, but it kept misleading the people and ultimately gave up in the HC. This reflects the true character of Nitish Kumar, whose arrogance is costing the state heavily everyday,” Sinha said.