Ahmedabad, Jan 20 (PTI) Leaders of Patidar, Kshatriya and other unreserved or open category castes in Gujarat on Tuesday demanded a 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in local body elections.
At a meeting in Gandhinagar, prominent leaders of these communities voiced their concerns about the recent implementation of 10 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies, which they claimed resulted in discrimination and injustice.
The meeting was attended by Patidar leaders such as Varun Patel and Dinesh Bambhaniya, Kshatriya leader Ramjubha Jadeja and Brahmin leader Hemang Raval, among others.
Speaking afterwards, Bambhaniya said the Gujarat government should take a decision in this regard at the earliest.
“We demand that 10 per cent seats be reserved for EWS category candidates. It was unanimously resolved today that we will put forward this demand before the state government as well as the Jhaveri Commission,” he said.
“The state government should take a decision at the earliest and ensure 10 per cent reservation for EWS candidates in village panchayat, district panchayat, municipalities and other local bodies,” he said.
In 2023, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Gujarat announced 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in local bodies on the basis of Jhaveri Commission’s report. Earlier, the OBC reservation was 10 per cent. The commission was appointed on the direction of the Supreme Court to redefine seat reservation for OBCs.
“We strongly believe that allocation of seats in local bodies based on the commission’s recommendations has been done without proper homework, and it is also against the guidelines of the Supreme Court,” Bambhaniya claimed.
The former Patidar quota agitation leader added that “social systems” were also neglected in implementing the reservation, and it eventually resulted in injustice and discrimination.
“The state government never shared the details about the method and criteria applied to allocate reservation to OBCs. There are numerous loopholes and irregularities in the reservation declared by the government,” he claimed.
If their demands were not heeded, the entire unreserved class will give a “befitting reply” during elections, said Bambhaniya.
A committee of unreserved castes will approach all the MLAs as well as MPs of Gujarat and seek their support, he said.
“We will make the names of elected representatives who refuse to support us public. A committee with representatives of 109 unreserved castes will be formed for taking forward this fight,” he added. PTI PJT PD KRK
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