Gandhinagar, Jul 9 (IANS): Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has constituted an OBC commission to be headed by retired high court justice K.S. Jhaveri, which will study the Other Backward Class (OBC) population in the state and recommend reservation for it for panchayat and civic polls.

The commission will study village, taluka and nagarpalika-wise OBC population, their socio-economic status and political influence, and present a detailed analysis to the government. Based on the report, OBC reservation for local bodies will be decided.

The move came after the State Election Commission issued a circular which dereserved 10 per cent OBC seats into general category. Some 3,252 village panchayat elections are due, which were postponed due to a petition before the Supreme Court on OBC reservation and rotation.

Senior Congress leaders Punja Vansh and Amit Chavda had opposed the SEC decision, and demanded that as per the Supreme Court order, a commission should be appointed to look into the matter and till the time the report is submitted, elections should be postponed.