Pune: On Monday, the Nationalist Congress Party’s President Sharad Pawar urged Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to organise a meeting with all parties concerned in an effort to solve the growing conflict over quota between the Maratha and the Other Backward Class (OBC) groups. Pawar also stressed the issue of social harmony and any kind of ugly animosity between the two communities.
Talking to reporters, Pawar elaborated on his meetings in the recent past over the quota issue. Ramesh Kere Patil, an activist of the Maratha Kranti Thok Morcha, went to Pawar’s residence in Pune to submit a memorandum and learn the stand of the latter. Pawar stated that he had received the memorandum and thereafter advised Chief Minister Shinde of the futility of further agitation. He said that he had already proposed to hold an all-party meeting to resolve the issue.
Speaking about quotas, Pawar continued: “I have suggested to Chief Minister Shinde that all political parties should sit and discover a feasible solution to the problem.” He said that Shinde must address the ticket distribution and give quota to major leaders like Manoj Jarange, who has been actively participating in the agitation demanding Maratha quota, or OBC Chhagan Bhujbal, the state Minister. In promising to attend and cooperate in the meeting Pawar said that the opposition intends to have productive debates in the meeting.
Pawar also highlighted a significant legal challenge: the Supreme Court’s decision that the ceiling of the 50 percent cannot be broken. He emphasised that it lies in the central government’s docket to develop a policy that honours this ceiling when attending to the reservation demands.
In addition, Pawar answered former ally Raj Thackeray, the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, who accused him of provoking caste issues in the state. However, Pawar said all these allegations were baseless and wondered why his name should be dragged into the problem.
The desire for an all-party meeting reflects Pawar’s genuine intention to bring about a settlement of the quota controversy while maintaining that the continuous politico-ethnic clashes must not shake the social harmony of the state.
Check here for the latest updates in Hindi!