Indicating that the Supreme Court order to scrap the OBC quota in local body polls might become a political thorn in the flesh, especially for the ruling BJP, the OBC Mahasabha has called for a Madhya Pradesh bandh on the issue on May 21.
The call came after a meeting of state and national level office-bearers of the Mahasabha – an organisation working for issues of other backward classes (OBCs), at Gwalior on Thursday afternoon.
While the organisation held that both the BJP and Congress had played around with the OBC population on the issue of reservation, the call for the bandh was basically given against the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.
“It is the government which is responsible to ensure the rights of the people and at present, it is a BJP government in the state. Our agitation is against the state government for failing to ensure OBC rights as indicated by scrapping of reservation in local body polls,” Vijay Kumar, founder president of MP OBC Mahasabha, told THE WEEK.
National core committee member of the Mahasabha, Dharmendra Singh Kushwah, who was also present at the meeting, tweeted to confirm the decision. On Tuesday, following the SC decision, Kushwah had alleged that the scrapping of OBC quota was fulfilment of ‘mission of RSS and BJP to end reservation’. In a video message, he had said, “The face of the BJP government, which was formed on OBC votes garnered through false promises, has been exposed. It is clear that the RSS and BJP mission to end reservation had been fulfilled through the courts. The BJP and Shivraj government want to treat the backward communities in the same way as it was done during Manusmriti times.”
Ready for polls, says Chouhan
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who had met Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in New Delhi late on Wednesday along with some of his cabinet colleagues, indicated that the BJP was getting ready for the polls as directed by the apex court. For two days after the SC direction for early notification of local body polls sans OBC quota, the chief minister and other BJP leaders had been emphasising that the government will file a review petition in the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the chief minister said that the government has moved for modification of order in the Supreme Court. He added that now there is only one focus that justice should be ensured for OBCs and preparations for the polls should also be made with an aim to win them. “Now the time to think is over, get ready my friends,” he said in a video message. He also said that more than 27 per cent tickets will be given to OBC candidates.
Also, the State Election Commission held a meeting of district collectors on Thursday as a preparatory move for the panchayats and urban local body polls. State Chief Election Commissioner B.P Singh asked the state government to be in readiness for the polls and said that both the polls will be announced within two weeks as directed by the SC.
