Mumbai: BJP MLA Ashish Shelar on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra State Election Commission to not go ahead with the polls in local bodies scheduled on December 21, saying conducting them will amount to doing injustice to Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Shelar's request came against the backdrop of the Supreme Court staying these polls on the seats where there is the reservation of up to 27 per cent for the OBCs.
Maharashtra State Election Commissioner U P S Madan had on Tuesday announced that elections to zilla parishads, panchayat samiti and gram panchayats will be held as per schedule except on the seats reserved for OBCs in light of the Supreme Court verdict.
This decision of the poll body has attracted criticism from various political parties.
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While staying these polls on the seats where there is the reservation of up to 27 per cent for the OBCs, the SC had also made it clear that the election process for the other seats would continue.
Shelar, the BJP chief whip in the Maharashtra legislature and former minister, on Wednesday submitted a written request with the state election commissioner for staying the polls.
“The election (in local bodies) is not going to be conducted on some seats because the OBC data is not available. Holding elections on remaining seats by excluding some would be an injustice to the OBC community. Hence we requested the commissioner to put the elections on hold till this issue is resolved,” he said.
The tripartite MVA government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress has announced that it will file an affidavit in the apex court requesting it to either allow polling on all seats in the local bodies on December 21 or to postpone it completely.
PTI
