Nagpur: Former minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday launched a scathing attack on Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for miserably failing in defending reservations granted by then BJP government to Marathas and OBCs.
Referring to Thursday’s Supreme Court verdict that quashed OBC reservations in the elections clarifying that 50% quota limit can’t be breached, the former Kamptee MLA warned the government of intense agitation if it failed to file a review petition in the apex court and ensured a stay on the verdict by next week.
“In 15 months of their tenure, the government totally ignored both important issues. It failed to strongly put up the case before the apex court that led to this decision. Their neglect proved costly for the entire community in the state and led to big injustice on them. The SC judgment would have severe repercussions on the OBC seats, as re-elections need to be held in about 100 Zilla Parishad (ZP), 200 Panchayat Samiti (PS), and hundreds of Gram Panchayat (GP) seats,” he said.
Warning chief minister Uddhav Thackeray-led government of severe resentment among the OBC community, Bawankule said they would protest on roads if steps were not taken to restore their reservation. “The SC has directed to reconduct polls in OBC seats within 15 days. However, the MVA can seek further time citing Covid-19 pandemic and make efforts to bring a stay. Already, the polls of the cooperative sector and local bodies are deferred due to the second outbreak of the virus.”
‘MERC reduced rates due to my plea’
Speaking on MERC proposing to reduce power tariff by 2%, the former minister clarified that he had filed a petition in 2019 when he had the power portfolio that led to this development. “I had strongly pitched for reduction of rates. The MVA shouldn’t take undue benefit of this. I would challenge them to prove me wrong. The government needs to make a provision in the budget to reduce power charges, which it failed to do.”
‘Patole works only for publicity’
Taking a dig at Congress state president Nana Patole, Bawankule said when the former was speaker, he moved a resolution for conducting separate OBC census in the assembly, which was passed by a voice vote. “However, till date, he failed to convince the three-party coalition to clear the proposal in cabinet and send it to the Centre. He only works for publicity and failed to follow up his own proposal.”
Members to be disqualified
Dist —– Washim —– Bhandara —– Akola—– Nagpur —– Gondia —— Total
ZP——- 3 ————– 1 —————- 4 ———– 4 ————- 3 ————– 15
PS ——- 0 ————- 0 —————- 9 ———– 7 ————- 8 ————– 24
GP——- 26 ———— 9 —————- 43 ——— 56 ———– 40 ————– 174
* ZP: Zilla Parishad, PS: Panchayat Samiti & GP: Gram Panchayat
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