Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said he will soon convene a meeting to discuss the Supreme Court’s order against providing reservation to OBCs in local bodies.
The Supreme Court recently struck down 27% reservation in favour of OBCs in local bodies made by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh Governments.
“I am calling a meeting in the backdrop of the Supreme Court order and its implications regarding OBC reservation, which applies to all States,” Mr. Bommai told reporters here.
“We will discuss what the current situation in our State is. We will decide how we can conduct elections by providing the existing OBC reservation,” he said.
RDPR Minister K.S. Eshwarappa has already said that ZP/TP elections would not be held in the near future owing to the apex court order. There was no clarity on conduct of elections to BBMP also.
The term of ZPs and TPs ended in April 2021 and the State Government has appointed administrators for local bodies.
Mr. Eshwarappa said the Government would hold discussions with leaders of the Opposition as well as legal experts to ensure justice to OBCs in the local body elections.
Three criteria
The Supreme Court has set forth three criteria for States to comply with in order to justify reservation for OBCs in local bodies.
The criteria included setting up a dedicated commission to determine backwardness.
The second condition is to specify the proportion of reservation required as per the commission’s recommendations. The third test is that the quota should not go beyond 50% of the seats reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs combined.
