Jayant Patil alleges Shinde govt indifferent towards Maratha quota demand

Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra unit president of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), alleged that the Eknath Shinde-led government showed a lack of concern for the Maratha reservation issue.

Patil said the three-party coalition government must treat the demand for reservation to the Maratha community in jobs and education as a serious issue and take it to logical conclusion. The government is indifferent to the Maratha reservation issue, the former state minister alleged.

He asserted that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, have conflicting opinions on this sensitive matter, indicating a lack of consensus within the ruling coalition's three parties regarding Maratha reservation. The NCP's unwavering stance is that Marathas should receive reservation without altering the existing quotas allocated for other underprivileged sections of society, as stated by the former finance minister.

Meanwhile, OBC leader Prakash Shendge met Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal here and opposed any backdoor entry of Marathas into the Other Backward Classes category by giving them Kunbi caste certificates, which will allow them to avail quota benefits. Such a move will be injustice to other communities and face protests from OBC groups, Shendge warned.