Hours after the Supreme Court allowed local body elections to be held in Madhya Pradesh with OBC reservation, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government hopes the ensuing civic and local body elections in Maharashtra will be held with political reservation of the OBC. NCP Minister and Samata Parishad founder Chhagan Bhujbal said a dedicated commission for OBCs will soon submit the crucial empirical data of OBCs to the state government which will be submitted to the apex court and that will pave the way for holding elections with OBC quota.
‘’The SC ruling applies to the entire country. That means it will apply to Maharashtra too. Every step taken by the Maharashtra government so far has been in the right direction. The civic and local body elections will be held in Maharashtra with OBC reservation,” he noted.
Bhujbal said that the state government has received the report on OBC empirical data prepared by the commission appointed by the Madhya Pradesh government. ‘’The state government will get the final report from Madhya Pradesh after corrections in a month. We will be allowed to hold elections with OBC reservation. Today’s Supreme Court ruling will apply to the whole country. In other words, elections will be held in Maharashtra with OBC reservation,” said Bhujbal.
On the other hand, Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad said, "The Supreme Court has approved the OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh. Then why this does not apply to Maharashtra. The decision given to Madhya Pradesh last week (of holding elections without OBC quota) was implemented by the Supreme Court across the country. Now, apply today’s decision to the whole country now.’’
Meanwhile, state Congress chief Nana Patole asked what miracle happened in the last four days when the Supreme Court gave permission to MP to hold local body elections with OBC quota. He claimed that the civic and local body elections will be held in Maharashtra with OBC quota.
‘’Maharashtra has been fighting for the last two years trying to restore the political reservation of OBCs but it has been constantly obstructed by the Central Government which refused to provide the empirical data required for the reservation,’’ he said.
"What data did the Madhya Pradesh government provide that satisfied the Supreme Court? Did the central government give that data to the Madhya Pradesh government?’’ asked Patole.
‘’The copy of the order of the Supreme Court has not been received yet. After receiving the copy, we will study and decide on the next course of action. The Congress party is constantly fighting for the reservation of OBCs. Unfortunately, the BJP wants to politicize the issue and deprive the OBC community in Maharashtra of the right to reservation,’’ said Patole.
