PRAYAGRAJ/LUCKNOW, Oct. 15 -- The Allahabad high court on Wednesday directed the State Election Commission to hold Panchayati Raj elections in Uttar Pradesh within three months. A bench comprising Justices Ajit Kumar and Garima Prashad passed the order on a bunch of petitions in which one filed by Dashrath Yadav was the leading one. The petitioner had moved the court seeking a direction to the State Election Commission to place on record a detailed time-bound schedule for completion of the entire panchayat election process well before the expiry of the district panchayats' tenure. The court, after hearing the parties concerned, observed, "It is expected from respondent No.2 (State Election Commission) that the entire schedule of holding the election should be finalised and brought on record before the next date of listing." Earlier, the state government counsel had submitted that the state government had appointed an OBC Commission for determining the reservation aspects related to the Other Backward Classes category. The state government's plea was that the election of gram pradhans and members of gram panchayats cannot be held until the said exercise is completed, as a decision on the reservations would be part of the said elections. Till date, the OBC Commission has not submitted its report. The high court directed that the election be held within three months with the completion of the reservation exercise. After the Allahabad high court order, the state machinery faces a challenge on the implementation front of conducting the rural polls when the administrative apparatus is gearing up for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections due early next year. Uttar Pradesh currently has 125.85 million (1,25,851,570) panchayat voters as compared to 122.95 million (1,22,950,052) voters in 2021. Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh have traditionally served as the biggest grassroots political test before assembly polls. Conducting the election in three months will require selection, training, deployment and movement of ground staff and security. The same machinery on the ground takes care of assembly and panchayat polls. Earlier, there was speculation that the authorities planned to hold the rural polls immediately after the assembly polls. After the high court order, panchayat elections would need to be completed for various posts, including 57,694 gram pradhans, 75 zila panchayat chairpersons, 826 block pramukhs and others by mid January, which is three months from the date of Wednesday's order. By then, political parties' preparations will be in full swing for the state's 19th assembly election. In 2022, the Election Commission had announced the code of conduct for the seven-phase assembly polls on January 8, 2022. The results were declared on March 11, 2022. Over two lakh personnel were deployed for the last panchayat elections in 2021. The exercise was conducted in four phases starting with nominations on April 3 and 4. As the tenures of gram pradhans expired between May and July 2026, the state government appointed outgoing heads as temporary administrators. Deployment of security is a key focus area during the rural polls due to the apprehension of localised violence as reported in the past. The State Election Commission, which is responsible for conducting panchayat elections in the state, has the voter list ready for the polling process. However, the report of the UP State Local Rural Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission is yet to be submitted. In May, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet approved setting up this dedicated commission to reserve seats for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the three-tier panchayat raj institutions. Panchayatiraj minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, who was in Ambedkarnagar, said, "The court's decision is welcome. Now, the documents are being called for and we will read and examine them.'' "We will first go through the order from the court," said Ravindra, principal secretary, panchayati raj department. In a statement, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Aradhana Mishra demanded the elections be held in three-months. "As BJP feared that public discontent in rural areas could manifest against the party in the polls, potentially impacting the upcoming assembly elections, it was delaying the panchayat elections. Coupled with the decision to appoint outgoing pradhans as administrators, (this) raises serious questions about the BJP government's functioning," she said. BJP chief spokesperson Dinesh Pratap Singh said the state government was waiting for the high court's order. "Only after going through the court's order, legal advice on the issue could be obtained. Thereafter, the government will decide accordingly," Singh said. Reacting to the court's directive, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abbas Haider said, "The order raises serious questions about the state government's handling of the democratic process." "Why were these elections not conducted on time? Why did the government allow a situation to arise in which the high court had to intervene and prescribe a deadline?" Haider asked....