Over the last few days, the issue of OBC reservation seems to be hot in the politics of the state. The Maharashtra government had demanded in a petition that the apex court should direct the Central Government should provide empirical data to the State Government for OBC reservation. However, during the hearing on Wednesday, the apex court rejected the writ petition regarding OBC reservation. The Supreme Court's rejection of the OBC reservation petition is considered a major blow to the Maharashtra government. The Maharashtra government should complete a triple test to implement the reservation. This does not mean that the Center should be ordered to provide non-usable data to the states. Because according to the Center, that data is of no use. Therefore, the petition is being dismissed, the apex court said.
An affidavit was filed in the apex court by the central government stating that the empirical data of 2011 could not be given as it was faulty. The Supreme Court has since refused to intervene. The Supreme Court has also asked who will decide who is OBC and who is not, what will be the criteria. The Supreme Court has said that there are two options, whether to hold elections by opening OBC reservation wards or postponing them. Moreover, according to the affidavit submitted to the court by the Center, the information collected about OBCs is incorrect and not usable. If the central government has taken such a step, then how can we give directions to the Maharashtra government to make this data available for reservation, the Supreme Court has also asked.
Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, while speaking on behalf of the state government on OBC reservation, demanded that the polls be postponed. The state government should be given at least 6 months to compile the empirical data. Until then, the Supreme Court should issue directions to postpone the polls, he said.
Meanwhile, 18 municipal elections will be held in the state in February 2022. These include Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Panvel, Mira-Bhayander, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Solapur, Nashik, Malegaon, Parbhani, Nanded-Waghala, Latur, Amravati, Akola, Nagpur and Chandrapur. Leaders of all political parties have become active in the face of this election. It remains to be seen whether the elections will be postponed after the Supreme Court's decision.