Maha govt to file affidavit in SC for allowing polling on all seats in local bodies on Dec 21: Bhujbal

The Maharashtra government will file an affidavit in the Supreme Court requesting it to allow polling on all seats in local bodies on December 21 or to postpone it completely, two days after the apex court stayed these polls on the seats where there is the reservation of up to 27 per cent for the OBCs, state cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal said on Wednesday.

He said the government will request the apex court to allow elections across all the seats and that empirical data will be submitted to the SC in the next six-eight months.

In its order on Monday, the top court made it clear that the election process for the other seats, except for those reserved for Other Backward Classes, would continue.

The top court passed the order while hearing two pleas, including the one assailing the provisions inserted/amended through an ordinance permitting reservation for the category of backward class of citizens up to 27 per cent uniformly throughout Maharashtra in the concerned local bodies.

"The government will file an affidavit before the Supreme Court again, requesting that the polls should not be held in a piecemeal manner. We will request it to hold the elections across all seats or postpone them and we will give you empirical data. "Or, let the election be held across all seats and we will submit empirical data in six-eight months like time is given (to poll candidates) for caste verification. So, we will be filing an affidavit," the food and civil supplies minister said on the sidelines of the state cabinet meeting.

Bhujbal, a prominent OBC leader belonging to NCP, also said the state government will discuss this issue with senior advocates like Mukul Rohatgi and added that he will attend a meeting in Delhi on Wednesday evening. In the light of the Supreme Court order, the Maharashtra State Election Commission on Tuesday said elections to ZPs and panchayat samitis on all seats except for those reserved for OBCs will be held as per the schedule on December 21.

Over 400 seats reserved for OBCs out of the total 1,200 seats will now have to wait for the next orders of the apex court.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)