The Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday downplayed the BJP’s allegation that MVA murdered the OBC reservation in Maharashtra saying that the report of a dedicated commission on empirical data of OBCs will be submitted to the government in June and that will be immediately handed over to the Supreme Court. He hoped that the apex court will accept it and on the lines of Madhya Pradesh it will allow the holding of civic and local body polls with OBC quota.
“The state government will approach the Supreme Court once the commission formed to collect empirical data for the OBC quota submits its report to the government in June. The Maharashtra government has also started taking steps to see if the Supreme Court ruling allowing Madhya Pradesh to hold local body polls with the OBC reservation can be applicable to Maharashtra as well,’’ said Pawar. ‘’It is the opposition’s job to criticise the government but let me tell you the state government is working seriously and taking all the necessary steps to restore the OBC quota in the civic and local bodies in Maharashtra,’’ he noted.
Pawar said the state government will make efforts till the last moment and deploy leading lawyers to see that the OBCs get representation in the coming civic and local body polls in the state. "The commission headed by the former chief secretary Jayant Banthia to collate empirical data of the OBCs is working. When it submits its report in June, we will present our side before the court," he added.
Pawar clarified that the state government will ensure that the total reservation remains within the 50% quota ceiling while providing the political reservation to OBCs. ‘’We have started working in that direction. We have spoken to the officials concerned. They also seemed positive," the deputy CM said.
He recalled that the ruling and opposition unanimously passed bills whereby the State Election Commission (SEC) will now decide the poll schedule for local and civic body elections in consultation with the state government. He said the Governor BS Koshyari had signed these bills.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Sachin Sawant said the state government should study the Madhya Pradesh Backward Class Commission's final report on the basis of which local body polls were allowed there with OBC quota, and that it could serve as a "guide" for the western state.
This divine report should be sought and studied as it will be a guide for Maharashtra," Sawant tweeted.
He said the Madhya Pradesh Backward Class Commission was set up by the (previous) Kamal Nath government, hence (present Madhya Pradesh CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan set up a separate three-member commission.
"It doesn't have its own office and staff. The first report was prepared on May 5," he said. Referring to some media reports, Sawant pointed out that this commission's chairman had said more research and investigation work was pending.
He claimed that in Madhya Pradesh political circles, there is criticism that the survey (for OBC population) was "invisible" as the report was not shown to anyone.
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