MarathaQuota Some parties delayingto keep issue burning

 

 

 

 

Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister, accused ‘some political parties’ of deliberately delaying resolution of Maratha quota issue as they wanted to keept it burning. Fadnavis was replying to a question regarding the Maratha quota stir and allegations by a former member of the committee that had looked into the issue of reservation to Maratha community. B L Killarikar, former member of State Backward Class Commission, had alleged that Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister, was ready for conducting a wider survey of communities in Maharashtra but Fadnavis was not in favour of the same. Asked about this, Fadnavis said that soon after resigning from the Commission, Killarikar had met Sharad Pawar, President of Nationalist Congress Party.

 

“This is clear enough an indication that some people are making statements at the behest of their political masters. Their only intention is to delay the resolution of the issue,” he remarked. To another question regarding the resignation of Justice (retd) Anand Nirgude from the post of Chairman of Maharashtra Backward Class Commission, the Deputy Chief Minister replied that Nirgude had resigned citing ‘personal reasons’. “We requested him to continue in any other capacity, but he cited persons reasons and has resigned,” he added. Meanwhile, Congress party has accused the Mahayuti Government of mounting pressure on Nirgude Commission to accept the information shared by the commission headed by Justice Sandeep Shinde and hence Nirgude had resigned.

 

Nana Patole, President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, alleged in a statement, “It is due to this pressure that first the members of the Nirgude Commission resigned and now the Chairman of Backward Class Commission has resigned as well. This is a serious matter. The Government is hiding something and it should make a statement immediately on this issue. The Government is deliberately escalating the Maratha-OBC dispute by inflaming the reservation dispute.” Responding to criticism of Congress party, Fadnavis said that the erstwhile dispensations in the State had appointed political workers on the committees and commissions instead of actual experts on the issue. “We have made it a point to appoint an expert. Also, our Government’s stand is clear. We do not interfere in the commission’s working,” he stressed.