S Balakrishnan | TNN

Mumbai: The bitter controversy that swept the country over reservations is set to become an issue in the BMC polls. Youth for Equality (YFE), the organisation that is spearheading the anti-reservation movement in the country, has decided to field a candidate in the BMC elections. Said YFE spokesperson Gunjan Sharma: “We will be fielding a candidate, 23-yearold Sanjeet Shukla, against the sitting Congress corporator Babubhai Bhawanji in Ward 167, which encompasses the stretch between Sion Circle and King’s Circle.

    “The Congress got the OBC reservation bill passed in Parliament in December when most medical and engineering students across the country were busy with their exams. The party thought that once the bill was passed then our agitation would die a natural death. We want to prove them wrong. Contesting the BMC polls is a small step in that direction,’’ the 23-year-old Sharma explained.

    Sharma, who is a medical student, said, “We posted our idea of contesting on our website www.youthforequality.in and the maximum responses came from this ward. So we decided to field a candidate. Shukla is a law student of Mitthibai College and has been active with us for six months. His father was a social worker in Sion.’’

    He said that apart from taking up civic issues, the YFE wants to use the polls to spread awareness about the “damage’’ reservations, especially for OBCs, are causing to Indian democracy. He claimed that the maximum number of atrocities on Dalits, like in Khairlanji, was committed by OBCs.

    Said a Sion resident, R Vishwanath: “Ideally, local issues should be discussed in a civic election. But since reservation is an important issue affecting every person, I will certainly back YFE.’’

URL- http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA3LzAxLzExI0FyMDA3MDE=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom