Odisha Panchayat Polls: BJP Launches Protest Demanding ‘Justice For OBCs’

As Odisha gears up for a high voltage Panchayat polls next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked the State government demanding reservation for the Other Backward Class (OBC) contestants.

A delegation of the party, led by the president of the Bhubaneswar district OBC Morcha, Upendra Bhanja met the ADM of Bhubaneswar and submitted a 7-point demand letter for the Governor of Odisha, on Friday.

As per the saffron party, the OBCs represent almost 2.5 crore (54%) population of the State. “While the representatives from the category enjoyed 27% reservation in the last five Panchayat elections, the Odisha government’s exclusion of the OBCs from the reservation pool this time has hurt their interests,” Bhanja told reporters.

He said the delegation came to submit the party’s demand letter on the State government’s blatant negligence to the OBC community. “OBCs constitute 54 percent of the Odisha population. The government cannot simply overlook their interests,” he added.

“Odisha government should have moved to the Supreme Court after the Orissa High Court rejected its plea for OBC reservation in Panchayat elections. But it did not. The government wants to keep the OBCs away from the Panchayat polls by showing the High Court’s 50 percent reservation rule,” the BJP leader stated.

The party also raised questions on the effectiveness of the State OBC Commission and termed it ‘a failure’ which could not put the interests of the OBCs in the front.

It is pertinent to mention here that the cap on total reservation has been marked by the Supreme Court at 50 percent.