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Maha govt promises to explore all options to restore OBC quota for local polls
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said the government should have completed the task of collecting data for the quota over the last year and a half
MUMBAI: The Other Backward Class (OBC) quota in the local bodies’ elections will be discussed at the Maharashtra Cabinet meeting on Thursday, the state OBC welfare minister Vijay Wadettiwar said and promised they will explore all options to restore it. The assurance came against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the state government’s plea for allowing the quota for the elections.
The court on Thursday rejected the state backward commission’s report recommending reservation for OBCs over “lack of rationale” and “absence of contemporaneous data.” The report was submitted to back the Maharashtra government’s plea to reserve 27% seats for OBCs in local bodies.
“We have been doing whatever we can to restore OBC reservation. Our stand is that elections should not be held till the quota is restored,” said Wadettiwar. He added the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no business blaming them. Wadettiwar said the same has happened in BJP-ruled states such as Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
Wadettiwar was responding to BJP’s allegations that the state government failed in providing reservation for the community.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said the government should have completed the task of collecting data for the quota over the last year and a half. “They wasted time. Our stand is that the election should not be held till OBC reservation is restored.”
Ruling Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande blamed the BJP for the mess. “They have the empirical data but are not ready to share with the state government and are using it for all other purposes. Even during the last five years of their regime, they were dilly-dallying on the issue. The state government will explore all the alternatives that are available and take the matter forward.”
State minister Hasan Mushrif also said that their aim is to restore the OBC reservation and that they will find a way out.
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