OBC quota in local bodies: Pankaja asks Maha govt to form panel

Aurangabad, May 31:

BJP leader Pankaja Munde on Monday said the Maharashtra government must establish a sub committee to deal with the Other Backward Classes (OBC) political reservation case in a time-bound manner and give justice to castes falling in this category.

The Supreme Court, in March this year, had ordered that reservation in local bodies in Maharashtra could not exceed 50 per cent of the total seats after taking into account quota for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs.

Addressing a Press conference here today, she alleged, "The government took insufficient efforts in the OBC political reservation case and did not want to be on the side of OBCs."

Munde said she would meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the issue and assured the BJP's help to bring about a solution that gives justice to OBCs.

Speaking on the Maratha quota issue, the former state minister said the community must get reservation, but it should be given separately without touching quota meant for OBCs.

She feared that only wealthy element could hold sway in elections and deprived sections of the society will remain away from the poll arena if there are no reservations.

Postal envelope on Gopinath Munde

Indian post is releasing an envelope bearing the photo of late Gopinath Munde on his death anniversary on June 3. Expressing joy over this, she thanked prime minister Narendra Modi and the government of India for the gesture.