U.P. Panchayat poll: Is BJP looking to bypass the semi final?

“Before May, we could get work of ₹5 lakh done at the Gram Sabha level. Now, for even ₹10 lakh worth of work, we need approval from the district administration,” says a village Pradhan from Kasganj district in Uttar Pradesh, citing the delay in local body elections in the State.

The Allahabad High Court’s directive to the Uttar Pradesh government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to complete the three-tier panchayat elections within three months has sparked conversations in village chaupals.

The State government had deferred the elections, due after the previous term expired in May 2026, to await a report from the Dedicated Backward Classes Commission on OBC reservations. The government put an interim arrangement in place where the outgoing Gram Pradhans are temporarily functioning as administrators until the new elected bodies take charge.

However, the High Court ruled that the polls cannot be delayed past constitutional limits and must proceed under the existing 27% OBC reservation framework. The figure comes from the previous exercise before the 2021 polls, when, instead of a triple-test survey that investigates political backwardness, the State conducted a rapid survey to estimate the OBC population for reservation purposes.

Political observers and opposition leaders argued that the State government knew the May 2026 expiration date and could have set up the commission months, or even a year, in advance to prevent a governance vacuum. They reminded the court that the Supreme Court-mandated “triple test” formula for providing Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations in local body elections has been in place since 2010 and was made mandatory by the Supreme Court in 2021.

Welcoming the High Court order, Panchayati Raj Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said the State is ready to hold the polls. “The High Court has issued its order; the Backward Classes Commission should take care of the matter. What do we have to do? We are ready to comply with the order. Once the Commission’s report is submitted, why would there be any need to approach the Supreme Court?,” he said in a media conference.