Maratha stir: Shiv Sena demands special Assembly session on reservation; Congress wants speedy efforts by Maharashtra govt

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday urged the Maharashtra government to convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss the Maratha reservation issue without waiting for the report of the Backward Class Commission. [caption id=“attachment_4800651” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Uddhav Thackeray. PTI[/caption] After a meeting of its legislators, the Sena said in a series of tweets that along with reservation for the Maratha community, the government should also consider assigning quotas for other caste groups. Thackeray was quoted as saying by the  Hindustan Times that a proposal for the same should be discussed at the special Assembly session and sent to the Centre. Moreover, the Congress has written to Governor of Maharashtra Vidyasagar Rao, urging him to intervene in the matter and direct the state government to expedite its efforts to provide 16 percent reservation to the Maratha community,  ANI reported. The state government is dilly-dallying in proffering reservation to Marathas and some other communities, the Congress said. A delegation led by Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan met Rao on Monday afternoon and requested him to instruct the state government to immediately withdraw cases filed against “innocent” agitators who participated in Maratha quota protests last week. The Congress delegation that met the governor included Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. In a memorandum the leaders handed to the governor, the party said the government would be to blame if law and order deteriorated because it did not announce a decision on the quota demand immediately. This comes just days after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said a special session of the Maharashtra legislature would be convened to pass “a law or a resolution” on reservation for Marathas. He had said that a special session of the House would be called after the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission submitted its report to the state government. The commission, headed by Justice (retired) MG Gaikwad, is carrying out a survey to ascertain the economic and social backwardness among Marathas, a land-owning community that constitutes 30 percent of the state’s population. The panel is expected to submit its report in four months. “We will pass a law or a resolution in the legislature based on the recommendation of the commission, to fulfil a constitutional requirement. The government has already requested the commission to complete its survey on the economic and social backwardness of the community at the earliest,” Fadnavis had said, adding that there was no delay by the government in this regard. With inputs from PTI