First phase of local polls without OBC quota in Maharashtra as SC refuses to interfere

On June 29, the state election commission (SEC) declared elections for 271 gram panchayats (village councils) on August 4. The nomination process for the polls started on Tuesday.

Mumbai: The first phase of the local body elections will be conducted without reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) community in Maharashtra as the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere in the polls as the nomination process is underway.

File photo of the Supreme Court of India.

On June 29, the state election commission (SEC) declared elections for 271 gram panchayats (village councils) on August 4. The nomination process for the polls started on Tuesday.

“The SC has refused to interfere in the gram panchayat polls as their nomination process has already started. It means that 271 gram panchayat polls will be held without OBC quota,” said a senior SEC official, who requested anonymity.

These gram panchayats fall in areas of low rainfall, as the apex court had directed the SEC to hold the elections even during the monsoon months wherever possible.

Last week, the SEC has also declared polls for 92 municipal councils on August 18, but these are likely to be postponed or will be held with the quota in place, as the nomination process is yet to start. “We will get clarity on this only when the Supreme Court will hear the case on the next date of hearing,” the SEC official said.

The nomination process for 92 municipal council polls will begin on July 22. There are around over 2,000 gram panchayats in which elections have been delayed. Another 9,000 gram panchayats are due for elections by December.

The political reservation for OBC candidates was struck down by the Supreme Court last March, which further directed Maharashtra to conduct a fresh empirical survey to ascertain the OBC population, and grant reservation accordingly, without exceeding the 50% cap on all reservations (including to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe candidates). The Banthia Commission, formed to do so, recently submitted its report to the state, which recommended up to 27% reservation in various bodies, based on local OBC population. The court, which was given a copy of this 700-page report on Tuesday, will take up the matter on July 19.

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Pankaja Munde and Chandrashekhar Bawankule demanded that the local body polls should only be held with OBC quota in place. “Considering the floods in most of the areas and a pending decision of the apex court on the OBC quota, the polls declared by SEC should be postponed,” Munde said.

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal said he was hopeful that the polls will be postponed and the Banthia Commission report will be accepted by the Supreme Court.