Politics has now intensified regarding the long pending Panchayat and civic elections in Rajasthan. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel has clearly said that it is not possible to conduct elections without giving political reservation to the OBC category. After his statement, a new debate has erupted in the politics of the state.
In this case, Congress is stuck on OBC reservation, due to which the matter is stuck. According to the minister, if Congress wants, elections can be conducted even without reservation. But Congress is not ready at any cost without reservation.
Reservation politics heats up before civic elections
While talking to the media in Jodhpur, Jogaram Patel made a direct attack on Congress and said that if Congress publicly announces that civic and panchayat elections should be conducted without OBC reservation, then BJP is fully ready for it. He even said that he himself can demand from the government to carry forward the election process without reservation.
Election wait is long in Rajasthan, issue stuck on reservation
The minister said that conducting elections is not the job of the government, but is the responsibility of the constitutional institutions. He clarified that Panchayat and civic elections are conducted by the State Election Commission, whereas the government only provides arrangements.
Elections stuck on OBC reservation, minister said – ready now if Congress says yes
Jogaram Patel cited the 2021 decision of the Supreme Court as the reason behind the delay in elections. He told that the court had clearly said that before giving political reservation to OBCs, it would be necessary for the state government to constitute an OBC Commission and take its report. Due to this process elections are being postponed.
The election bugle will sound when the report comes.
He accused the previous Congress government of not forming the OBC Commission for three years, whereas the present BJP government formed the commission as soon as it came to power. Now the government is waiting for the report of the commission. Only after the report comes, the reservation blueprint will be decided and then the path for elections will be clear.
However, the minister also admitted that there is currently no fixed time limit for when the commission’s report will come. In such a situation, the wait for Panchayat and civic elections in the state may drag on even longer.