Shivraj Singh Chouhan targets Cong after SC nod to OBC quota in local body polls

Bhopal: Minutes after the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Madhya Pradesh to hold local body elections with reservations for other backward classes (OBC), Madhya Pradesh chief miner Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched a blering attack on the Congress which he said, had conspired to block OBC quotas and now stood exposed.“Congress leaders and Kamal Nath (state Congress president) hatched a conspiracy to create trouble for common people and blamed BJP for failing to provide OBC reservation. But, now they are exposed,” Chouhan said after the top court’s order in Delhi.“After the Supreme Court’s judgement on holding election without reservation, Congress leaders were saying that nothing will happen. But we fought because we resolved that the election to local bodies and panchayats will not be held without OBC reservation,” Chouhan said.A bench of justices AM Khanwilkar, AS Oka and CT Ravikumar allowed the Madhya Pradesh government to issue the order notifying OBC seats in line with the report of the three-member OBC commission set up in September last year.The Supreme Court earlier declined to allow the state to hold local body elections with 27% reservation for OBCs without empirical data on the population and representation of OBCs.MP’s OBC commission put the population of OBCs in the state at 48% and permitted reservation of varying quantum across each municipal seat, extending to a maximum of 35%. Once this exercise was complete within a week, the court directed the MP state poll body to notify the election for nearly 23,263 local body posts which are vacant.To be sure, the court clarified that it was yet to decide on the merits of the commission’s report. But the verdict is a huge political victory for Chouhan, especially since Maharashtra, which is ruled a coalition of Shiv Sena, Congress and National Congress Party, also tried to convince the top court but did not succeed.“On Tuesday, Supreme Court heard the remodification plea and asked for a survey report of municipal bodies wise. We submitted it within 24 hours and the apex court gave horical judgement,” the chief miner said, underlining how his government moved swiftly to submit the information sought the Supreme Court which led to Wednesday’s order.MP OBC welfare commission chairman, Gauri Shankar Bisen, said, “The Congress was calling the commission unconstitutional and said we failed to complete the triple test but now the apex court has accepted our survey report and given the decision in favour of OBC reservation. The court said the state government will declare the reserved seats according to the report of the commission.”MP senior Congress leader Arun Yadav called the ruling a verdict a win for the OBC community and the Constitution. “If the Shivraj government’s intentions regarding OBC reservation, panchayat and urban body elections were clear, then the Supreme Court would not have to intervene. The Supreme Court’s comment that the government has failed to conduct the triple test, then how will it pass in the public court? This is a victory for OBC community and the Indian Constitution.” OBC SC/ST Ekta Manch state president Lokendra Gurjar said they had been pushing the state government “to fight for our rights. We are happy that Supreme Court did justice to OBC community.”