Bhujbal declares agitation for political reservation for OBC

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister and other backward class (OBC) leader Chhagan Bhujbal announced agitations against the Central government, demanding political reservation of the OBC in Maharashtra, which is on the verge of getting scrapped following a recent verdict of the Supreme Court

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister and other backward class (OBC) leader Chhagan Bhujbal announced agitations against the Central government, demanding political reservation of the OBC in Maharashtra, which is on the verge of getting scrapped following a recent verdict of the Supreme Court. Bhujbal, who also heads Akhil Bhartiya Samata Parishad, an OBC outfit, said the details will be worked out after chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue on Tuesday.

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He made the announcement after the executive committee meeting of Akhil Bhartiya Samata Parishad in Bandra on Monday afternoon.

While ruling out that the reservation in favour of the OBC in local bodies should not result in exceeding the 50% cap in reservation quota, the Supreme Court also directed the state government to appoint a dedicated commission for collecting empirical data, based on which, the reservation quota of the community be fixed.

It means no seat is going to be reserved for the OBC community in the upcoming local bodies comprising municipal corporations, municipal councils, zilla parishads, panchayat samiti and gram panchayats at least for this year or until the state government completes the entire process.

The apex court gave its verdict on March 4 following which the state approached for a review, which was also quashed by it on Friday (May 28).

Around 65,000 seats reserved for OBCs across the local bodies in the state are going to be affected with the apex court’s verdict, Bhujbal claimed. “We have decided to hold an agitation in the name of ‘OBC Bachav Janjagriti Andolan’ for restoring the reservation. We will wait till tomorrow as the CM will be discussing the issue along with others with the Prime Minister in Delhi, based on its outcome we will decide the next course of action,” Bhujbal told reporters.

He said that he has discussed the matter with the NCP chief Sharad Pawar who has agreed to discuss it with chief ministers of other states as the verdict is not limited to Maharashtra and will be applicable across states. He also spoke about the seriousness of the issue with Devendra Fadnavis, former chief minister and leader of opposition. “I requested Devendra Fadnavis to explain it to the Prime Minister and he assured to help,” Bhujbal said.