A day after the Supreme Court scrapped the Maharashtra Government ordinance giving 27% reservation to OBCs in the local body polls, the State Election Commission on Tuesday stayed the election process on seats reserved for OBCs in the local civic bodies that are going to polls on December 21.
A total of 106 municipal panchayats, Bhandara and Gondiya zilla parishad and 15 panchayat samitis under these ZP are going for polls on December 21. In addition, bypolls for four municipal corporation seats and 7130 vacants posts in grampanchayats are also going for polls.
State Election Commissioner UPS Madan said that elections on seats reserved for OBCs have been stayed as per the Supreme Court order. “However elections on general seats and those reserved for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe will continue as per the schedule,” he said.
Elections on 23 seats in Bhandara and Gondiya ZP, 45 seats in panchayat samitis, 344 seats in municipal panchayats and one seat in municipal corporation have been stayed.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister and senior OBC leader from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Chhagan Bhujbal, on Tuesday said that 54% community not getting electoral representation is nothing but injustice. “The State Government has formed the backward class commission. At a time when census is not being conducted due to the pandemic, collecting empirical data is an harculean task. However the State Government will continue the court battle and we are in constant touch with senior lawyers regarding this,” he said.
Mr. Bhujbal pointed out that the file concerned to the backward class commission should not be kept pending in the administration. “No represenation to the 54% community in local bodies is nothing but injustice and one needs to sort this out,” he said.
