Indian Tribal News Service
Bhubaneswar/New Delhi
The BJP and the Congress have upped the ante against the Naveen Patnaik regime demanding that it hold the panchayat elections in Odisha only if it can implement reservation of 27% seats for the Other Backward Classes (OBC).
This, after the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, on the directions of the Orissa High Court. Came out with a new list withdrawing its earlier notification for panchayat polls that earmarked seats for the OBCs.
Citing the Supreme Court order, the Orissa High Court had also directed the State government that there must be no reservation for OBCs in the forthcoming three-tier panchayat elections in Odisha.
However, the State government coming out with a new list hasn’t gone well both with the BJP and the Congress on one side and the tribal organizations on the other.
The BJP, which petitioned the Governor seeking a stay on the conduct of the elections. said the Odisha government’s decision to proceed with the panchayat polls without reservation to OBCs is strictly contrary to the object, intent purpose of the constitutional scheme of advancement and adequate representation for them.
The Supreme Court had in December last year directed the state election commissions of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to re-notify the seats reserved for OBCs in the local bodies under the general category.
In Maharashtra, the BJP has threatened to launch street agitations if elections to local bodies are held without OBC reservation. In Madhya Pradesh, the Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution stating that there will be no panchayat polls in the state without reservation for the OBCs.
The Congress in Odisha wants the Naveen Patnaik dispensation to take a cue from the two States and put the election on hold till it reserves seats for OBCs.
The tribal organizations are also cut up with the State government. The Odisha Adivasi Kalyan Sangha, an organization of tribals, recently took to the streets protesting against the reduction in their reservation quota for the panchayat polls.
It announced that the tribals would socially boycott the ruling Biju Janata Dal and not allow any leader of the party to enter the villages if their voices are ignored. The Kalahandi Adivasi Sangha accused the Chief Minister of ignoring the tribals for doing OBC politics.
