Maharashtra Politics Heats Up Over OBC Quota, Government Facing Backlash From OBC Community
Mumbai, 7th May 2022: The politics are heated up over the OBC quota in the local body elections in Maharashtra. The Supreme Court has directed the State Election Commission to notify the schedule of local body elections within two weeks.
The SC bench said that the delimitation before March 11, 2022, in respect of the concerned local bodies should be taken as the notional delimitation in respect of each such local body by the conduct of the already delayed elections and on the same basis.
This is a setback for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)-led Maharashtra government, as it believed that these elections could be held in September-October.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had called a high-level meeting of senior ministers, including Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal, senior bureaucrats and Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, on Thursday to discuss the issue.
Government sources said that it was told in the meeting that the OBC quota would be ensured in the upcoming local body elections.
The Supreme Court rejected the demand for the restoration of the OBC quota in local bodies upto 27%. The SEC was not cooperating with the government and was taking a different stand. In such a situation, the MVA would have faced a lot of backlash from the OBC community.
The BJP-led opposition has attacked the Aghadi government. The BJP alleged that the state government was failing to secure a quota for the OBC category in local bodies.
The Leader of Opposition in the Council Praveen Darekar said, “The state government has failed to secure political quota to OBCs in local bodies. We are not satisfied with the recent assurance from the government that necessary steps will be taken to secure this quota.”
