Supriya Sule alleges state govt not serious about Maratha reservation

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule blamed Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, for the police response to Maratha quota protesters in Jalna last week, and alleged the state and Union governments were not serious about the issue of reservations for various communities.

She also urged the Centre to call a special session of Parliament to address the reservations issue while speaking at a press conference here.  The state and Union governments are not serious about quota to Marathas, Lingayats, Muslims, Dhangars etc. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis spoke about solving the Dhangar reservation issue in a meeting in front of our house in Baramati, but he seems to have forgotten about it, Sule said.

The police lathi-charged protesters in Jalna for which Fadnavis (who holds the Home portfolio in the Eknath Shinde government) is responsible. The Union government must convene a special session of Parliament to find a solution to the issue of reservations, the working president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said.

On September 1, in the Jalna district, after protestors allegedly refused to allow authorities to relocate an activist on a hunger strike for the Maratha quota demand to a hospital, the police baton-charged and fired tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob. The violence resulted in the injuries of several people, including 40 police officers, and the burning of more than 15 state transport buses.