Samadhan Awatade, BJP MLA from Pandharpur-Mangalwedha, on Friday requested the Maharashtra assembly Speaker to convene a special one-day session of the legislature to discuss and resolve the Maratha reservation issue.
“In view of the ongoing agitation at Azad Maidan under the leadership of Manoj Jarange-Patil, I humbly request that a one-day special session of the Maharashtra legislature be convened so that reservation can be granted to the Maratha community,” he said in a letter to Speaker Rahul Narwekar.
The demand for quota was growing stronger and the entire Maratha community has once again rallied in support of Jarange’s indefinite fast which began on Friday morning, said Awatade who belongs to the ruling coalition.
Also Read | ‘Stop Playing Games, Give Reservation Directly’: Manoj Jarange on One-Day Extension.
In February 2024, when Eknath Shinde was Chief Minister, the Maharashtra legislature, at a special day-long session, unanimously passed a bill providing 10 per cent reservation to the Maratha community in education and government jobs under the `Socially and Economically Backward Classes’ category.
The reservation has been challenged in the court, even as Jarange has demanded a quota for the community in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.