Accusing the state's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of being callous and incompetent with regard to the OBC quota issue, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday said that elections without reservation will be a gross injustice to the community, especially the youth. It also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being an irresponsible Opposition over the issue. “The MVA government had two years to prepare empirical data with regard to social and economic backwardness of various OBC communities across the state. This is nothing but callousness and gross incompetence on the part of both — the administration and the MVA government,” said AAP spokesperson Mukund Kirdat a day after the Supreme Court rejected the interim report submitted by the state's backward classes commission on restoration of OBC reservation in local bodies’ polls. Attacking the BJP, Kirdat said, “The BJP, on the other hand, has been an irresponsible opposition, and didn't put the government on the mat on the floor of the House with regard to OBC reservation. The BJP has misplaced priorities, and only engages in petty politics of division and polarisation under the name of the OBC issue.” Kirdat said the question of reservation in local body polls is not merely a question of some statistical arrangement, but affirmative action in order to ensure participation of people from Other Backward Class (OBCs) in local government. “The AAP demands that the MVA government and the Opposition work towards immediate restitution of OBC reservation in local body polls, without which, no local body polls should be held,” said Ranga Rachure, AAP's convenor for Maharashtra.
