On Monday, senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar lambasted the Maharashtra state government's Bharat Janata Party and asked why 15 percent of the seats meant for the OBC community in government jobs in the state were lying vacant.
Wadettiwar's remarks came on the day BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule kickstarted the OBC Jaagar (awareness) rally from Wardha district in the state.
The leader of opposition in the Maharashtra assembly in a post on X said, People from the Other Backward Classes have 27 per cent reservation in government jobs; however, only 12 per cent of OBC employees are actually working. Why are the remaining 15 per cent seats kept vacant?
Wadettiwar also alleged that the allotment of OBC certificates was being done secretly. Will Bawankule demand any action against this practice? Will he even place his demand before the prime minister of carrying out the OBC census? he asked. Wadettiwar said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had promised to reinstate political reservations for OBCs in local governing bodies. It has been more than one-and-a-half years since he has been in power, will he keep his promise? the Congress leader asked.
In addition, Wadettiwar criticised the Maharashtra government for preparing to import the wagh nakh (a sword made in the image of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's tiger claw) from the UK. Those debating putting the wagh nakh here are the same people who cannot even establish the Shivaji Maharaj memorial in the Arabian Sea. It is a fresh strategy to win support, he claimed.