Nagpur: After giving political reservation to OBCs, the Supreme Court has ordered to start the process of municipal elections in two weeks. Hence elections are likely to be held in the month of September-October and 35 seats are to be reserved for OBCs.
The Supreme Court has fixed the limit of reservation. In such a situation, not more than 50 percent of the seats can be reserved. In Nagpur, 19 percent seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 7.7 percent for Scheduled Tribes. Therefore, OBCs will get 23.5% reservation. The new reservation is likely to unsettle the political equations of some candidates who are preparing to contest elections from the open category.
A total of 52 Prabhags have been created in Nagpur city. There are three corporators from each Prabhag and 156 candidates are to be elected. A total of 78 seats will be reserved for SC, ST category and 35 seats for OBCs. The remaining 78 seats will be open to all. Of the total 156 seats, 50 are reserved for women.
The five-year term of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) election has ended. The three-member Prabhag structure has been created by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. In addition, the boundaries of the Prabhags have also been fixed. The State Election Commission has given the final approval for this. Now the ward wise reservation has to be announced only for OBCs. It is expected that the election will be announced after objections, suggestions and hearing.
It is noteworthy that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government prepared Prabhag boundaries for its political convenience. Former Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has demanded to change it. As soon as the BJP came to power, Bawankule had demanded postponement of the elections to the 92 Nagar Parishads declared without OBC reservation, which was accepted immediately. But it was attributed to the rainy season. However, if the demand of the BJP is considered and the wards are re-arranged, then the municipal elections can be delayed again.
Final voters’ list
The final draft of voters’ list for the forthcoming elections to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) would be published on July 21. Earlier, the Prabhag-wise electoral rolls were to be published on July 9. However, the date was extended till July 16 and then to July 21. Another reason provided by the State Election Commission is that a new process is being carried out by NMC and hence additional time is needed to iron out the shortcomings in the electoral rolls.
