The voice of discontentment continued to grow over the reservation of seats for other backward classes (OBCs) in the upcoming three-tier Panchayat elections in Odisha when a tribal outfit in the western district of Bolangir organised a massive protest rally on Monday.
The members of the outfit- Paschim Odisha Adivasi Kalyan Sangha- took out the rally and held a Maha Meli (meeting) in front of the office of the district Collector. They alleged that their community has been sidelined in the reservation of seats for candidates in the forthcoming elections.
The association members demanded immediate implementation of reservation rules for Block chairman and Sarpanch in the Panchayat elections 2022 as per Article 243D of the Constitution of India. Article 243D of the Constitution under Part IX provides for reservation of seats for SC & ST in every Panchayat.
Niranjan Bishi, the General Secretary of Paschim Odisha Adivasi Mahasangh said, "Therare no Sarpanch and Block Chairman positions for the STs in the elections this year. We demnd to implement the reservation for the STs according to population."
Asked about the agitation by the tribals, Chanchal Rana, District Collector of Bolangir said, "We will consider their grievance as per the guidelines of the Department and the reservation provisions in the OGP and Panchayat Samiti Act. If they warrant merit, then we will definitely act upon it."
Meanwhile, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a massive public protest in front of the Balasore collectorate alleging faulty reservation list for the Panchayat elections.
The party members alleged that in the reservation list, notified on December 27, not even a single seat has been reserved for the Advasi or OBC category for the post of Sarpanch and Samiti member in some blocks of Balasore district.
The party members demanded fair representation of all communities in the rural body elections.
State BJP General Secretary, Prithviraj Harichandan said, "With the present reservation setup, no ST candidate can file nomination in the non-scheduled districts. Even the SC reservations have been done arbitrarily. I hope the State government rectifies its mistake in the final reservation list otherwise we will drag them to the Court."
“About 52 per cent of people in Odisha belong to backward classes, but reservation is not being provided to the community in a single Sarpanch seat. How will the State government conduct the Panchayat elections by sidelining the backward classes,” questioned BJP leader Manas Dutta.
Refuting the allegations, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Prashant Muduli, said, "The BJD always tries to uplift the STc, SCc and OBCs socially, financially and politically."