OBC reservation: Cong-backed bandh in MP gets tepid response

The Congress-supported Pichhada Vargh Mahasabha's bandh in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, seeking 27 reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the upcoming local bodies polls, did not evoke much response and passed off peacefully, an official said. No untoward incident was reported from any part of the state during the bandh, sub-inspector Rahul Katara of the MP Police Situation Room told PTI in the evening. The Mahasabha's state working president Rakesh Singh Lodhi said the organisation working for the upliftment of the OBCs is going to hold a meeting in a day to decide the future course of action. The bandh received good response in rural areas, in Gwalior and Chambal regions. The organisation requested people to support to the bandh and did not use force, he said.

A Congress leader claimed that the Mahasabha has influence in Gwalior and Bhind region, where the bandh evoked a good response. Markets, petrol pumps and public transport remained unaffected by the bandh in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur. In Gwalior, a handful of supporters were seen requesting people to shut their shops in markets and shopkeepers did shut their establishments for a while. Some markets of the five districts - Bhind and Morena in Chambal division, Seoni, Mandla and Anuppur - did remained shut for the better part of the day, according to reports reaching the state capital.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court permitted reservation for the OBCs in the local bodies elections in Madhya Pradesh with a rider that it should not exceed 50 per cent.

''The apex court order is not in our favour. We will get just 14 per cent reservation. But the quota should be provided as per the population of the OBCs in the state - which is 48 per cent,'' Lodhi said, demanding 27 per cent reservation.

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