Will Maha govt grant 42 pc reservation to backward classes like Telangana: Congress

Mumbai, Sep 4 Congress on Thursday asked whether the Maharashtra government will follow the example of the Telangana government, which conducted a caste-wise census and granted 42 per cent reservation to the OBC community there.

The state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said the MahaYuti government has issued a government order granting reservation to the Maratha community by accepting the provisions of the Hyderabad Gazette.

“If the government is going to implement the Hyderabad Gazette, then will Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis follow the example of the Telangana government, which conducted a caste-wise census and granted 42 per cent reservation to the OBC community in their state?” he asked.

Sapkal further said that the reservation matter in the state is grave, and disputes have now arisen between the Maratha and OBC communities over it.

“To address the Maratha community’s demand for reservation under OBC, the Mahayuti government has issued a government order implementing the Hyderabad Gazette. But the real question is how much faith can one place in Devendra Fadnavis’ words? Many of his past announcements have later turned out to be mere rhetoric,” he claimed.

He said that, currently, even as discussions are ongoing that the Maratha community will get reservation from the OBC quota, the government is simultaneously claiming that the OBC community’s reservation will remain untouched.

“If the Maratha community is indeed going to get reservations from the OBC category, then the government’s claim that OBC reservation is unaffected raises serious questions. Both cannot be true at the same time — one has to be clarified. Because of the government’s stand, confusion has arisen between the communities,” said Sapkal.

Sapkal further claimed that the BJP-led alliance government wants to create discord between communities in the name of reservation. That is exactly what is happening in Maharashtra today.

“While the government has announced that the demands of the Maratha community have been accepted, the OBC community has taken to the streets in protest,” he said.

He pointed out that the Congress’s position remains clear — the Maratha community must get a reservation, adding that the only effective solution to provide reservations is a caste-wise census.

“However, the BJP government does not seem very supportive of it. Merely announcing a caste-wise census will not suffice; its implementation is necessary. Only then can a permanent solution to the reservation issue be achieved,” he observed.

--IANS

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