Loudspeaker Row And OBC Reservations: Maha Vikas Aghadi On Backfoot

The MVA government in Maharashtra seems to be faltering on the following two issues:

-Taking down illegal loudspeakers installed at mosques in the state.

-SC’s order to notify local body polls within two weeks in the wake of delay in delimitation exercise.

The Loudspeaker Row: MNS leader Raj Thackeray’s deadline to the state government to take down all unauthorised loudspeakers ended on May 3.

-He had called on MNS workers to play Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques which violate the Supreme Court order of limiting the use of loudspeakers to the specific time periods in a day and within prescribed decibel levels.

-On May 4, he also shared a video of Late Balasaheb Thackrey, warning against the use of loudspeakers playing ‘azaan’.

-Raj Thackeray said that he is in favour of pulling down all illegal loudspeakers, irrespective of religion. He called it a social issue and not a religious one.

Impact of Raj Thackeray’s Call: In Aurangabad, Pune, Mumbai, Kalyan, the loudspeakers playing azaan were either shut down or their volumes lowered.

-Maharashtra police made preventive arrests and detention of MNS leaders and workers at various places, including outside the MNS Chief’s residence at Shivaji Park, Mumbai.

-Shiv Sena alleged that Raj Thackeray is acting on the behest of the BJP

Local Body Polls: Meanwhile, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Maharashtra state government for delaying elections to over 2,400 local bodies.

-It set a deadline of 2 weeks for the State Election Commission (SEC) to notify elections.

-The state government was postponing the election on the pretext of carrying out a delimitation exercise to ensure OBC reservation in the polls.

-The exercise is supposed to follow the triple test criteria fixed by a constitution bench of the Supreme Court.

What is the Triple Test Criteria? The Supreme Court in 2010 had set out ‘triple test criteria’ as a precondition for reservation for OBC in local bodies.

-Firstly, a dedicated Commission needs to be set up to collect empirical data on the nature and implications of the backwardness of OBC within local bodies in the State.

-Secondly, it needs to specify the proportion of reservations in light of recommendations of the Commission.

-Thirdly, reservation should not exceed the aggregate of 50 per cent of the seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together

BJP’s Charge: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, in a series of tweets, blamed the MVA government for not adhering to the prescribed format to reserve OBC seats in the local bodies, causing deferment of the delimitation exercise.

Bottom line: The high decibel campaign on the loudspeaker issue by Raj Thackeray seems to be stealing the Hindutva plank from Shiv Sena which is now left to do a balancing on an issue of which it was once a strong votary. The OBC reservation not coming around in time further highlights the administrative ineptitude of the MVA.