Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 15 (ANI): Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Ashish Shelar voiced his support for the Maratha community’s reservation demand, terming it as right stand.
Shelar further raised concerns about the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s absence from the Mahayuti government’s all-party meeting on the issue of Maratha community reservation.
“The demand for reservation of Maratha community is right. Maratha community is agitating for its demand. The government is also working on this process. The law has been made by the government. Despite the law, the community has demands on some other things and the government is positive about that. It is not a good thing that fear or apprehension remains in the minds of the OBC community. The Mahayuti government called an all-party meeting but the people of Maha Vikas Aghadi did not participate in it. What was the reason for that?…The ministers of the ruling party themselves went to meet the big leader of the opposition,” he said.
On the same day, Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal met National Congress Party (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar and said that the alleged clashes between Maratha and OBC people over reservation can be stopped if all parties come together.
This was the first meeting of Chhagan Bhujbal with Sharad Pawar after the NCP split in July last year.
After meeting with Pawar, Bhujbal said, “NCP-SCP Chief Sharad Pawar knows how the people of different communities are living in villages. I told him that there are clashes in villages in connection with the Maratha reservation. This can be stopped if leaders of all parties come together, otherwise, the situation will keep worsening. He (Sharad Pawar) said he would speak to CM Shinde and try to bring out a solution.”
“I can meet PM Modi, HM Amit Shah, or LoP Rahul Gandhi for OBC reservation; I am ready to do anything to solve this issue,” he added.
The Maharashtra Minister also mentioned that he requested Sharad Pawar’s intervention in the matter, as he is one of the leaders in Maharashtra who understands the issue better.
“Maratha community people and OBC community are having extremely bad feelings about each other, and in several parts of Maharashtra, they are also not visiting each other’s house. Due to the ongoing reservation conflict,. I requested Sharad Pawar Sahib’s intervention in the matter because he is one of the leaders in Maharashtra, who understands the issue better,” Chhagan Bhujbal said.
Earlier in June, Bhujbal also emphasised that he is not against the Maratha reservation but cannot ignore OBCs.
“We are not against the Maratha reservation. However, the OBC community should not be ignored. We should maintain peace and discuss this,” Bhujbal said.
In June, Manoj Jarange Patil suspended his indefinite fast and set a deadline for the Maharashtra government to accept the community’s demands.
Jarange has been demanding reservations for the Marathas community under the OBC category for several years.
In February this year, the Maharashtra government, during a special assembly session, approved a bill to extend 10 per cent reservation to the Marathas, based on a report submitted by the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission (MBCC). (ANI)
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