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Udayanraje Bhosale accuses Sharad Pawar of delaying Maratha reservation
Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji, said that those from earlier generations only looked at the Maratha community as a vote bank and did not bother to give reservation to the community
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member Udayanraje Bhosale said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar deliberately kept the quota issue pending for decades.
Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji, said that those from earlier generations only looked at the Maratha community as a vote bank and did not bother to give reservation to the community.
He said that if the current dispensation cannot resolve the Maratha reservation issue, then those in power should resign. Bhosale was speaking in Satara while addressing a press conference on Sunday.
The Supreme Court recently stayed the implementation of the Maratha quota law and referred petitions challenging the law to a larger constitution bench.
Bhosale, without naming Pawar, said that the then chief minister during Mandal Commission did not press for inclusion of Maratha community in the OBC category, an issue that is haunting the Marathas today. “If those who are from an earlier generation and were in power when the Mandal Commission recommended reservation to OBCs had recommended the Maratha community then, we would have got reservation,” said Bhosale.
It was Pawar who headed Maharashtra between 1988 and 1991 while the Mandal report was implemented in 1990.
Bhosale said that those leaders are still in power and should resolve the issue without any delay. “He knows everything about the issue. It is high time that he resolves it,” he added.
Plan to march to Mumbai: Maratha outfits
Maratha outfits have decided to step up its protest for reservation to the community in education and jobs. Various Maratha outfits held a meeting in Pune on Sunday where they decided to take out march from December 8 if the MVA government does not resolve the issue of admissions and jobs to Maratha youths. Rajendra Kondhre, convenor, Maratha Kranti Morcha, said that the way government has handled Class 11 admissions and jobs in Mahavitaran was unjust.
“We would like to warn the government to resolve the issue of FYJC admissions and recruitment in Mahavitaran by December 6. Otherwise, we will march towards Mumbai (Vidhan Bhavan) and members of the community from each district will join the march,” said Kondhre.
As per Kondhre, they plan to march to the Vidhan Bhavan as the government plans to hold the winter session of the assembly during the same period.
Reacting to NCP leader and minister in MVA cabinet, Chhagan Bhujbal’s remarks that OBCs will fight the efforts if there are plans to disturb their quota, Maratha outfit leaders said that Bhujbal should restrain from making such statements.
Bhujbal, minister for food and civil supplies, on Saturday had said that any move to carve out reservation from the Other Backward Class quota would be opposed.
“The OBCs (Other Backward Classes) account for 54% of the population and their reservation should be left untouched. If needed, we shall come together and fight against any move to cut into the OBC quota,” Bhujbal had said.
