Maharashtra CM to discuss way forward to restore OBC quota with Madhya Pradesh counterpart

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will discuss the way forward to restore the OBC quota with his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan in view of the Supreme Court's order directing the State Election Commission (SEC) in MP to notify local body polls within two weeks sans the Other Backward Classes reservation.

This comes after MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and other legal experts in Delhi after the Supreme Court's decision on May 10 in the matter of holding civic elections with OBC reservation. After the discussion, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "We are committed to provide justice to the OBCs, to ensure that the local body elections can be held with reservation, we will go to the Supreme Court for modification and once again put the facts in front of them."

'Hold Local Body Polls without OBC Reservation': SC

The Supreme Court has ordered to conduct panchayat and urban body elections in Madhya Pradesh immediately. The court has said that the State Election Commission should issue notification of their elections in two weeks to the bodies whose elections are pending. The apex court has also made it clear that reservation cannot be obtained without fulfilling the conditions fixed for OBC reservation. The court has also said that the election cannot be postponed on the basis of fresh delimitation of seats.

On May 4, the Supreme Court had given a similar order for Maharashtra as well. A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Abhay S Oka and CT Ravikumar made it clear that the order to not postpone the civic elections is not only for Maharashtra or Madhya Pradesh, it is applicable to other states also. It is a constitutional requirement to hold elections on the vacant seats in five years. It should not be postponed for any reason.

Image: PTI