Nagpur: Even as State Election Commission on Tuesday announced local self-governing body bypoll schedule to fill seats that fell vacant after Supreme Court annulled OBC quota, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) general body unanimously passed a resolution appealing to Maharashtra government to defer the elections until other backward classes (OBC) reservation is restored.
All political parties supported the notice tabled in the general body by ruling party leader and senior BJP leader Avinash Thakre.Thakre also urged the House to approach the state government to give extension to local bodies whose tenure will end in near future.
If the state accepts the plea, BJP being ruling party in the NMC stands to benefit.Without any discussion, BJP, Congress, BSP, Shiv Sena and NCP corporators backed the proposal, which led mayor Dayashankar Tiwari to pass the resolution.
The resolution was passed to reassure Maratha community voters ahead of NMC elections slated early next year, said sources.Thakre told TOI that the apex court decision bars OBCs to contest local body election on the basis of their caste and they will have to contest from open category.In 2017 NMC elections, 30 seats had been reserved for SC, 12 for ST and 41 for OBC candidates.Since OBCs constitute a large section of the population in Nagpur city, they play a vital role in deciding the fate of any candidate or political party, said political observers.Erstwhile Devendra Fadnavis government had announced reservation for OBCs in local bodies.
Ruling that total reservation ceiling of 50% can’t be breached, Supreme Court had quashed the 27% OBC quota in any local body polls in Maharashtra.
The review petition filed by the incumbent Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government too was rejected by the Supreme Court.While Fadnavis blamed the MVA-led state government for the loss of OBC quota, state Congress chief Nana Patole blamed BJP-led Union government for not providing data as the central government was urged to submit relevant facts to support the OBC reservation.Thakre told TOI that it was the state government’s responsibility to provide empirical data of the OBC community in Maharashtra.
According to him, in the coming days, more local self-government bodies will pass a similar resolution to pressure the MVA government to act towards restoring OBC reservation in local bodies.On March 4, the apex court had directed Maharashtra government to set up an OBC commission, collect empirical data of OBC population and submit the same, pointed out Thakre.If the state government does not act, OBC leaders will have to contest local body elections from open category, which will be a great loss to the community, he claimed.
Hence, the NMC general body has passed the resolution, said Thakre.The SC judgment has also led to cancellation of membership of 31 OBC members elected to the local bodies, including Nagpur Zilla Parishad.