Oppn aggressive over OBC quota, demands Nawab Malik’s sacking

Opposition demands the sacking of arrested minister Nawab Malik, at Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Even as it faces a high-pitched demand for sacking its minister Nawab Malik, the MVA government's troubles increased after the Supreme Court rejected its interim report for providing political reservation to the other backward classes (OBC) in the local body elections, on Thursday, the first day of the budget session.

The BJP-led opposition launched a multi-pronged attack on the Uddhav Thackeray government. It criticised the MVA for insulting the Governor who left without completing his address to the both houses. Opposition leader in the Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, demanded from CM Thackeray that the minority affairs minister Nawab Malik, who faces money laundering charges and is allegedly having links with most wanted Dawood Ibrahim, be sacked immediately. The opposition staged a protest outside for the same demand and will take out a protest morcha in Mumbai on March 8 or 9 to press for it during the four-week session.

The SC decision gave it another issue to mount attacks on the MVA Cabinet which huddled to decide to explore all options to get the quota restored. The restoration, if not done, will impact the civic polls in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and other local bodies in MMR and the rest of Maharashtra.

This year, the state will have a mini-Assembly poll-like programme, which will help the MVA and BJP fathom their respective political strength. However, elections without an OBC quota mean inviting the ire of the state's largest aggregation of various caste groups.

SC points out flaws

The SC has asked the state election commission to notify processes in the local bodies that are overdue for election without the OBC quota. It said the interim report itself mentions that the same is being prepared in absence of empirical study and research by the commission. "Having failed to do so, the commission should not have filed the interim report," the court said.

It added that it is not possible to permit any authority, much less the State Election Commission (SEC), to act upon the recommendations made in the said report. It directed the SEC to begin without delay the election process in at least 800 gram panchayats, five municipal corporations and 100 municipal councils that are overdue for elections without having 27 per cent reserved for the OBCs.

Govt's cut and paste job: Fadnavis

Insisting that there should be no polls without the OBC quota, Fadnavis said the SC's rejection has exposed the government's cut and paste job in preparing the interim report. He doubted the intention of the government, slamming it for not specifying the source of data, the methodology of collecting it and the dates on which the information was gathered. "The government submitted the information which was rejected earlier. The court has asked for filing the OBC's region-wise political backwardness data, but the government has failed despite being given ample time. The government does lip service instead of doing real work."

OBC welfare minister Vijay Wadettiwar said the government has not exhausted options and there will be no polls without OBC quota. He said the opposition should not criticise because same has happened in BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.