Maha govt has casual approach to Maratha, OBC quotas: BJP

Mumbai, Jun 5 (PTI) Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Saturday accused the state government of having a "casual approach" towards reservations for Marathas in education and jobs, and for OBCs in local bodies.

In both cases, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government failed to present its case well before the Supreme Court which struck these quotas down, he told reporters here.

"The state government has a casual approach towards the quota for Marathas in education and jobs and the political reservations (in local body polls) for OBCs," Patil said.

"Does anyone know the social implications of not offering political reservations for OBCs in local governing bodies? It would be a huge injustice to them," he said.

Patil came down heavily on the way the government handled the Maratha reservation case in the apex court.

"The state government wasted the time of the Supreme Court during the hearing by stretching it to more than a year.

The Supreme Court frequently said that hearings of an Act passed in both houses of state legislature should take place continuously. The state government annoyed the court so much that it stayed the Act.

"It is not a general practise but this government left the court with no option," Patil said.

He also blamed the state government for not filing a review petition immediately and instead setting up a committee headed by a retired judge.

"The committee has now submitted its report but made no new recommendations," Patil said.

On OBC reservation, Patil alleged that the government showed similar lethargy.

"How much time it would need to find out the exact population of OBCs in a district or city (an information sought by the SC). But it continued its lethargic approach," the BJP leader said. PTI ND KRK KRK