Bhopal: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have claimed credit for the Supreme Court orders granting 27% quota for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Panchayat and urban bodies’ elections.
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Giving reservations to the OBCs became a major political issue, as there is 48% OBC population in the state, according to the government-appointed OBC Commission. Nevertheless, according to the Congress sources, the number of OBC population in MP is 56%. Ergo both the parties are trying to outfox each other to woo the OBC voters, because the assembly elections are due next year.
As the issue was caught in the mire of politics, the Panchayat and urban bodies remained without elected representatives for more than two years. Therefore, elated by the Apex Court orders, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the party leaders and office-holders at the BJP headquarters that the Congress indulges in divisive politics.
It was the Congress that had gone to the Supreme Court, and when the ruling party was preparing for the civic polls, the Congress stopped it, Chouhan said. Chouhan further said that the Congress barely works for the people’s welfare and treats everyone as a vote bank.
He said that the BJP team had worked day in and day out to find a way for the OBC reservations. Nonetheless, reacting to the Supreme Court orders, MP Congress Committee president and former chief minister Kamal Nath said that it was a welcome decision. He told reporters in Delhi that Congress did not expect the BJP state government to benefit the OBCs.
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Nath further said, “The SC decision is a victory of the struggle of Congress and the OBC society which forced the anti-OBC Shivraj government to bow down.” Whatever the government may say about the SC orders, it was the opposition Congress led by Nath that took an aggressive stance on the OBC quota. It was the former Congress government led by Nath which passed an Ordinance in the cabinet on March 8, 2019 for giving 27% reservation to OBCs in Panchayat and urban bodies.
