Congress accuses Gujarat govt of sitting on OBC panel report, seeks governor's intervention

The Congress on Tuesday sought Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat's intervention alleging the government is purposely sitting on the report of a panel looking into the nature and implications of backwardness in local bodies, an exercise necessary for fixing OBC quota in panchayat polls.

The Congress claimed that elections to several local bodies could not be held despite the expiry of their five-year terms because the report of the KS Jhaveri commission, formed last July by the state government, was not made public.

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A delegation led by senior legislators of Congress, Amit Chavda and Arjun Modhwadia, met Devvrat at Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar and handed him a memorandum seeking his intervention in making the report public and issuing necessary instructions about the declaration of elections based on the recommended OBC reservation.

"Though the commission's tenure ended on March 12, the government is not releasing the report as a conspiracy to finish the political existence of OBCs (Other Backward Classes) who form 52 per cent of the population in Gujarat," the Opposition party alleged.

The commission headed by Justice KS Jhaveri (retd) of the Gujarat High Court was constituted last July to collect and analyse data about the nature and implications of backwardness in local bodies.

As directed by the Supreme Court, seats to be reserved for OBC candidates in each local body will be decided as per the recommendations of the Jhaveri Commission following a detailed study.

Earlier, 10 per cent of seats in local bodies such as village panchayats and municipalities were kept reserved for OBC candidates, Chavda told reporters outside Raj Bhavan after meeting the governor.

"However, as part of a conspiracy, attempts were made to end the political existence of OBCs. After protests by Congress, the BJP government in the state formed the Jhaveri Commission last year. After two extensions granted to it by the government, the panel's tenure ended in March. But, its report has not been made public yet. Who is behind this conspiracy to end the political representation of OBCs?" asked Chavda.

He said elections to 7,100 village panchayats, two district panchayats, 18 taluka panchayats, 75 municipalities and by-elections to numerous vacant seats across the state are still kept in abeyance because the report has not come out yet.

"As per rules, elections can be held only after the report is released. Thus, we demand this report be made public, OBCs get a reservation as per recommendations and elections to local bodies are announced at the earliest. We urged the governor to intervene in this issue and give necessary instructions to the government," said Chavda.

During the Assembly session last month, MLAs of Congress staged a walkout from the House after the government refused to give a definitive assurance about releasing the report of the commission.