The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Tuesday said a constitutional amendment was the only way to provide 27% political quota to other backward classes (OBCs), with Congress, one of the partners, saying Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis should answer who was responsible for the removal of reservation in Madhya Pradesh
The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Tuesday said a constitutional amendment was the only way to provide 27% political quota to other backward classes (OBCs), with Congress, one of the partners, saying Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis should answer who was responsible for the removal of reservation in Madhya Pradesh.
The ruling alliance’s comments came after the Supreme Court directed the poll panel in Madhya Pradesh to notify elections to the local bodies, without the OBC quota, within two weeks.
Maharashtra OBC welfare minister Vijay Wadettiwar called the SC order unfortunate. “Today’s order is unfortunate. No matter which state it is but if OBCs are affected, it is unfortunate. However, our stand from the beginning was to request the prime minister to hold an all-party meeting to discuss a constitutional amendment to ensure 27% reservation to OBCs.”
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nana Patole said the apex court’s order exposed Fadnavis’s “hypocrisy”. Instead of showing fake concern, the Centre should take immediate steps to restore the OBC reservation, he said.
Patole said BJP and its ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, had always been against the quota. “When the Mandal Commission recommended reservation to OBCs, BJP organised a Kamandal Yatra against it. The political quota to OBCs is in danger because the BJP government at the Centre refused to provide empirical data required to restore the reservation… The Central government is fully responsible for this.”
Patole said BJP leaders repeatedly tried to mislead people of the state by lying about the OBC reservation. “He [Fadnavis] was the chief minister for five years, and yet he did nothing to save the quota. BJP only wants votes of the OBC community and does not want the OBCs to benefit from reservation or government schemes.”
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