The Shinde-Fadnavis government on Wednesday filed an interim application in the Supreme Court to recall the last order delivered by the Supreme Court which has said the State Election Commission should go ahead in conducting the elections to 92 nagar parishads and 4 nagar panchayats without OBC quota.
A senior officer told the Free Press Journal, ‘’The government in the interim application filed in the apex court has pleaded that the order delivered on July 28 asking the SEC to hold elections to 92 nagar parishads and 4 nagar panchayats as it cannot interfere with polls that have been already notified. The government has submitted that SC recently had allowed 27% reservation for OBCs in the local bodies including nagar parishads, nagar panchayats and gram panchayats. The government had approached the apex court seeking its view on why the OBC quota was not applicable to 92 nagar parishads and four nagar panchayats but it rejected the government’s plea. The government has argued that as the nomination process had not begun in these urban local bodies the State Election Commission had stayed the process after SC accepted the Banthia Commission report and allowed 27% quota for OBCs in urban and rural bodies.’’
Today’s move came after the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier said that the government wants the elections to 92 nagar parishads and 4 nagar panchayats to be held with OBC quota.
The veteran NCP leader and Samata Parishad founder Chhagan Bhujbal has also insisted that the elections to these bodies should not be conducted in the absence of oBC quota.
The State Election Commission (SEC) officials met Fadnavis and discussed the way ahead. SEC sources said, ‘’SEC will submit its view on the government’s interim application.’’
