OBC quota in local body polls: Fadnavis blames state govt for SC ruling

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday blamed the Maharashtra government for "negligence" over the Supreme Court's decision striking down reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local body elections.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government was "never serious" about the issue, he alleged in a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

"The Supreme Court struck down the OBC reservation in local government body elections. The state government's review petition has been rejected," the BJP leader said in the letter.

"It happened because of unpardonable negligence of the state towards the issue. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government was never serious about this issue," the former chief minister alleged.

"During one of the hearings, the SC had asked the state to set up a backward class commission and produce empirical data that would justify the reservation. However, the state did nothing," the BJP leader alleged.

State Congress chief Nana Patole, however, blamed the BJP-led Union government for 'not providing data'.

"The SC had asked the Centre to submit data to support the OBC reservation. The Centre deliberately did not submit it, therefore the reservation was struck down. The Centre is against OBCs," he alleged.