MPCC president Nana Patole said on Monday that chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar should “stop misleading the Maratha and OBC communities” and clarify their position on the reservation for these communities.
Patole said, “The Maratha and OBC communities have been pitted against each other on the reservation issue. The complication is increasing because the triple-engine government does not have a clear position on the issue. This has resulted in massive suspicion between different communities.”He said the state is facing the current situation owing to lack of consensus in the state government and among cabinet members.
“The government should take a firm stand on the row over reservation,” he added.Patole said both the CM and Fadnavis were saying that the government is committed to providing reservation to the Maratha community. “The BJP has been holding power for more than 10 years, so why it has not taken a decision on providing reservation to the Marathas? The dispute would have been resolved long back had the Central government removed the 50 per cent limit (on quota) during the five-day special session of Parliament,” he added.Patole welcomed the statement of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who said that taking seats from one community and giving them to another was wrong. “We feel that if the row over reservation is to be resolved, all of us must support Rahul Gandhi’s proposal for a caste-based census, which will address all the disputes,” he said.Patole also said the countdown of the Modi government had begun.