The Supreme Court judgement on Wednesday permitting Madhya Pradesh to hold the local body elections with the Other Backward Class (OBC) quota has revived the hopes of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
The state is expecting a report on the empirical data from the dedicated commission within a month, following which the government will present it before the apex court, requesting it to restore the OBC reservation in the coming elections.
The Maharashtra government had in March constituted a dedicated commission headed by former chief secretary Jayant Banthia to compile the data on the political backwardness of the community. The commission is collecting details by engaging various state government departments, inviting suggestions and objections from political parties and stakeholders, and holding hearings in various divisions.
Food and civil supplies minister and OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal said the SC order had paved the way for providing reservation to the community across the country and the local body polls in the state too could be held with quota.
“We are happy that the order on Madhya Pradesh will be applicable to the entire country. We have secured a copy of the report submitted by the MP government. The Banthia commission is studying the report and is taking additional steps as well to make its report foolproof. We are sure Maharashtra will be allowed to hold the local body polls with OBC quota,” he said.
Bhujbal further said solicitor general of India Tushar Mehta argued in favour of the MP government for the restoration of the quota. “Though the opposition has been attacking us, the state government has been taking right steps in the interest of the OBC population and they have worked in our favour.”
However, officials from the rural development department said the restoration of the OBC reservation would depend completely on whether it was accepted by the apex court. “The court has accepted the data submitted by the MP government, which does not mean it will admit the one submitted by Maharashtra. It all depends if the report meets the criterion set by the Supreme Court,” an official said, requesting anonymity.
Meanwhile, attaching a paragraph from the SC order, Maharashtra Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant tweeted in Marathi: “This clearly means the SC has denied to admit that the data submitted by the MP government is accurate. Despite this, the MP government has allowed the elections with the OBC quota. It seems more study is required to understand the [court] orders given nowadays.”
The paragraph reads, “We may not be understood to have expressed any final opinion either way on the validity or correctness of this report and if some challenge is set up against this report, that may have to be considered on its own merits in accordance with law.”
Leader of opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis hit out at the state government and demanded resignation of the leaders responsible for killing the OBC reservation in Maharashtra. “The SC had December 13, 2019, asked the states to collate the empirical data, but Maharashtra did nothing in the last two-and-a-half years. The MVA government could not do what MP has done and it has exposed its inefficiency. The MP government submitted a revised version of the report by splitting it local body wise after the apex court directed it to do so last week. The MVA government has failed to take the necessary steps because it does not want to restore the reservation. The leaders responsible for the mess should resign,” he said.
The apex court on Wednesday allowed MP to hold the local body polls with the OBC quota on the basis of the empirical data submitted by the government. The reservation was stayed by the SC for the want of completion of triple test of which the data was one.
