Bihar municipal polls deferred

Urban local body polls in Bihar were deferred by the State Election Commission (SEC) in view of the Patna High Court declaring "illegal" reservation of seats for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Extremely Backward Classes.

In a circular issued on Tuesday night, the secretary of the state poll panel informed all the district magistrates that both phases of the elections, scheduled on October 10 and October 20, stand deferred.

"New dates of polls will be notified in due course," said the circular, which also quoted the operative portion of the high court order, whereby the SEC had been directed to hold the elections "only by immediately re-notifying the seats reserved for the OBC category, treating them as general category seats".

In the 86-page order, the SEC came in for sharp criticism and was asked to review its functioning as an autonomous and independent body, "not bound by the dictates of the Government of Bihar".

The SEC had, accordingly, issued a circular on September 30 to all district magistrates concerned who were asked to keep the contestants in the loop.