Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa on Tuesday told the Legislative Council that the State Government will examine with legal experts if the data collected from caste census could be submitted to the Supreme Court and seek nod for holding elections to taluk and zilla panchayats with OBC reservation.
“We will use the data if possible and discuss with legal experts,” he said during a discussion. “At any cost we will not hold taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat elections without accounting for OBC reservation,” he said in response to the issue raised by Congress member R.B. Thimmapur, who said candidates were anxious to know the next move of the Government.
Following the Supreme Court order on January 9 that OBC reservation cannot be provided in these elections without a quantifiable data on the population, the fate of TP/ZP elections is hanging. The Apex Court has cancelled the OBC reservation in Maharashtra and declared those seats as general category seats in the absence of any data on castes. There has been a demand to submit the data collected in the 2017 socio economic survey or the caste census report by the Permanent Backward Classess Commission headed by Kanthraj. On Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition B.K. Hariprasad and Janata Dal (Secular) member K.A. Thippeswamy urged the Government to use the caste census data for submission in the court.
Mr. Eshwarappa said that the Government will be consulting the current chairman of the Backward Classes Commission Jayaprakash Hegde and legal experts in the coming days. “We are not sure if the Supreme Court will consider the Kanthraj Commission report and if not what would be the next course of action. We also have to consider what if the court asks us to hold elections with only SC/ST reservation,” he said.
