Pending court decision, parties will field community candidates matching the old quota, but present tense as nobody knows what future holds
Representational images. Pic/iStock
The Supreme Court hasn’t struck off the other backward classes (OBCs) quota in the local body poll, but it wants the state governments, including Maharashtra, to support the quantum with supporting data and ensure that the total reservation is capped at 50 per cent. The court has asked, like last year, to start a pre-poll process, pending its decision on the quota. When the elections were held in such circumstances last year, all political parties fielded OBC contestants in the erstwhile reserved ward, and they are about to do the same this year as well, if pre-poll arrangements do not delay as expected to give the government time to go to the court with the data. In any case, the OBCs will not be denied their right, at least in these elections. Then, why is there ho halla from the opposition and ruling parties?
The MVA government is under pressure and incessant attack on the charges that it did not do the needful in the past two years, while the BJP is accused of not sharing the census data which is in possession of the Centre, which has denied it the information on caste groups. Not only Maharashtra but some BJP-ruled states have also been asked by the SC to complete the exercise for justifying the OBC quota. The argument between the MVA and BJP will intensify ahead of polling which is not expected to happen in at least the next two-three months.
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The BJP has shifted its gears fast to seize the opportunity and it will go to the people crying foul against the MVA, with a promise that it will field 27 per cent OBC candidates. Other parties have also entered the fray with a similar promise, but they haven’t caught up with the BJP’s pace. In addition to the Hindutva and whistle-blower agenda at hand, the BJP has one more point to be raised before its OBC vote base, which according to it, is the largest among all principal parties. The MVA’s concern will be to have a 27 per cent OBC quota restored.
Getting any less than demanded would mean handing the opposition yet another weapon. The recommendation of a dedicated panel that is collating the empirical data will play a decisive role. Any variance will impact the local body polls that are conducted after the case is decided.
Boomerang effect for Raj?
Raj Thackeray’s call for protesting loudspeakers on mosques didn’t get the expected response. And it is turning the heat up the other way. The places of worship associated with Hinduism have been protesting the sound pollution norms that have been applied to mosques and temples as well. The supporters of major shrines like Shirdi and Pandharpur have announced their strong displeasure. The MVA partners have been trying to cash in on the public sentiment, blaming Raj for causing ‘unwarranted’ problems to Hindus.
In many places, Muslim religious heads decided to silence loudspeakers during the SC-ruled prohibited timeframe. Taking the fizz out of impending confrontation, Muslims supported the use of loudspeakers at Sai Baba shrine in Shirdi.
And even as he was subjected to the state action, which, according to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, is very mild in its penal nature, Raj has threatened to intensify his agitation. But except for May 4, the last week has been peaceful. What’s more, an ardent Raj supporter in Pune has refused to toe his leader’s line in his local municipal ward. He organised a maha arti and proudly displayed his affection for his Muslim accomplice, a painter, who was seen giving finishing touches to the Hanuman idol.
Message from up north
BJP’s Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh, Brij Bhushan Saran Singh, who was one of the accused in the Babri demolition case along with party’s top leaders, has asked Raj Thackeray to tender an apology to the north Indian people for his hate speeches and the violence they caused against the migrants, failing which the MNS chief would not be allowed to enter Ayodhya in June. MNS dismissed Singh’s threat, but the MP’s message is clear, at least for his own party which is accused of being accomplice to Raj these days. In Mumbai, the north Indians constitute one of the BJP’s largest support groups, and they wouldn’t like the party to pamper Raj (or Shiv Sena which has diluted its anti-north Indian position but is still far from winning the migrants’ trust) for obvious reasons. Five years ago, the north Indians contributed very generously to the BJP’s quantum jump in a straight contest against the Sena in the BMC polls.
Dharmendra Jore is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @dharmendrajore
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