The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday passed a resolution to defer the local body elections till the empirical data of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) is collected for the purpose of reservation. Government sources said elections to local bodies are likely to be postponed by three months and likely to be held in May.
The issue of OBC reservation in local body elections was discussed in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
“In the cabinet meeting, the issue of OBC reservation and the events taking place in the context were discussed. Most of the ministers who spoke on this issue made a common demand that elections
OBCs should not be without reservation and all elections should be postponed till the data is collected. The cabinet has passed a resolution in this regard,” senior NCP minister and an OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal told media persons.
Bhujbal said a letter would be written by the chief secretary to the State Election Commission (SEC), asking them not to hold elections until the empirical data is collected.
Sources said the resolution regarding future elections to local bodies was passed and will have no impact on the upcoming local body elections to 105 nagar panchayats, two zilla parishads and by-polls in the state. Voting for these elections will be held on December 21.
The cabinet proposal comes after the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the state government’s plea requesting census data from the Centre. Also, the SC directed the SEC to convert OBC seats into general category seats and conduct elections in the ongoing local body elections.
After the SC stayed a state ordinance on 6 December providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs, the SEC had barred elections to OBC seats in these local body elections.
Sources in the government said the local body elections, which were to be held in February, are likely to be postponed till May. These are elections to 15 municipal corporations and 25 district councils, described as “mini-assemblies”.
“The empirical data will be collected in three months and OBC reservation will be restored in all local bodies. The government will work on a war footing to collect data during this period. The elections are likely to be held in May, before the monsoon,” said a cabinet minister.
State election commissioner UPS Madan said the commission will convert OBC seats to general category for the elections to be held this month and will announce an election schedule accordingly. “I have heard about the cabinet proposal (on postponement of local body elections). We will get the letter from the state government and see what it says. We will also look at the order of the Supreme Court. We will follow the orders of the Supreme Court and take a decision accordingly.”
The Cabinet also decided to allocate necessary funds to the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission (MSBCC) for collecting empirical data. “The commission has been given the necessary funds. The remaining amount will be approved in the winter session of the state legislature and then given to the commission,” Bhujbal said.
While the MSBCC has sought Rs 435 crore to conduct an empirical data study for OBC reservation, the state has allocated Rs 5 crore last week as the first installment towards administrative expenses.
Meanwhile, the cabinet appointed an IAS officer and Secretary (General Administration) Sumant Bhange as nodal officers for coordination and follow-up action with MSBCC for empirical data. Last week, government sources had alleged that the SC had stayed the government’s OBC ordinance due to lack of coordination among several departments.
on 6th December, SC had said 27 percent of OBC quota could not have been implemented without the constitution of the commission and collecting data about the inadequacy of representation in the local bodies.
In its order on March 4, the SC had asked the state government to comply with triple conditions while reading out OBC reservation in local bodies. These were setting up a dedicated commission for empirical data of OBCs and specifying the proportion of reservation which should not exceed the limit of 50 per cent before the seats reserved for the OBC category are notified. The third was that such reservation shall, in no case, exceed 50 per cent of the total number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes.
Following the Supreme Court order, the government appointed a commission dedicated to collect empirical data of OBCs and also promulgated an ordinance to provide up to 27 per cent reservation to the community in local bodies without exceeding the 50 per cent limit. The SC, however, stayed the same saying it could not be implemented without empirical data.
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