A day after the supreme court directed the state election commission (SEC) to notify elections to local bodies within two weeks, the poll panel is expected to start the process in the next couple of days, even as its officials said the elections were expected to be held in September-October.
The state government now aims to complete collating the empirical data on the political backwardness of the other backward classes (OBCs) in two months and approach the apex court urging it to restore the quota.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray chaired a review meeting on Thursday in the wake of the SC order where all the options to ensure that the elections were held with the OBC quota up to 27% were discussed.
The state government has also requested the Jayant Banthia commission, appointed in March to collect the empirical data, to comply with the triple test criteria laid down by the SC and submit its report at the earliest. The state has decided to not move the apex court seeking a review of the decision as it felt it would not serve the purpose.
Vijay Wadettwiar, other backward classes welfare minister, said, “The SC has not struck down the amendment laws, notified on March 11, to take the powers of delimitation from the SEC. The court has not said anything about it, and hence, we are not going to move for a review. We expect that a report on the empirical data will be submitted early next month, after which we will approach the SC with a request to restore the OBC quota quashed for the want of data. We are firm on holding the elections with up to 27% quota to OBCs.”
Food and civil supplies minister and a prominent OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal said they also expected the Central government to enact a law to give OBCs the political reservation in proportion to their population. “The issue of political reservation pertains to the entire country and not only to Maharashtra. If the Centre enacts a law to allot the quota to OBCs in proportion to their population, the reservation will be restored.”
Bhujbal also said they had requested the Banthia commission to study the methodology adopted by other states for the empirical data so that it would stand the legal scrutiny.
The top court had on March 4, 2021, quashed the political reservation of 27% to OBCs pointing to the K Krishnamurthy judgement given in 2010. The court had asked the state to comply with the triple test, which includes the compilation of the empirical data to establish the political backwardness of OBCs. The state made several futile attempts like promulgating an ordinance in September 2021 to give reservation to OBCs without following the triple test criteria.
The state had in December 2021 amended the terms of reference of the backward classes commission and sought an interim report in three months. In February this year, the state moved an application in the SC seeking permission to reserve OBC seats based on the interim report. The apex court rejected it on March 3, directing that no OBC reservation would be provided in local bodies and asked the SEC to ensure elections to these seats were held after notifying them as general seats. Soon after, on March 7, the state amended the law for carrying out delimitation of wards, thus delaying the elections.
SEC officials said they would implement the top court order immediately. “We held consultation with legal experts for the interpretation of the order. The SC has asked us to resume the election process within two weeks. The process of delimitation of wards in various local bodies is at different stages. The notification to direct the local bodies to resume them will be issued soon,” said Kiran Kurundkar, secretary, SEC.
Another official from the state government said the elections would unlikely be held before September-October. “The demarcation of the ward boundaries, reservation draw with suggestions, objections from people, and finalisation of electoral rolls, will take two to three months, stretching it to July. The SEC’s contention that the elections could not be held during the monsoon will have to be taken into consideration by the SC as it cannot risk the process. In such a scenario we can expect the polls to be held before or after Diwali,” the official, who did not wish to be named, said.
Twenty municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the civic bodies in Pune, Thane, Nagpur, and Navi Mumbai, 25 district councils, 285 panchayat samitis, 210 nagar panchayats, and more than 2,000 gram panchayats are either due or going to be due for polls in the next couple of months.
“We have completed the delimitation for 14 municipal corporations, but the process for the remaining six which are due for elections in the next few months is yet to begin. Similarly, the notification to begin the process for the district councils and panchayat samitis has not been issued as the government framed rules just by the end of February. For 210 urban local bodies we published the draft and suggestions, objections were called for when we stopped the process. Even after completing the delimitation, the reservation draw takes a couple of weeks, followed by splitting of the electoral roll and inviting suggestions and objections which need another two-three weeks,” Kurundkar said.
