In light of the increasing attention on Maratha reservation in Maharashtra, NCP president Sharad Pawar suggested on Tuesday that the Centre abolish the 50% restriction on quota and expand it by 15–16% to include other groups.
The leader of The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said at a press conference that his party would support any legislation the Centre introduces on women’s reservations. A special session of Parliament has been scheduled by the administration for September 18–22.
The Maratha community is actively protesting throughout the state, calling for reservations in public employment and educational institutions.
Some claim that expanding the number of groups receiving OBC (other backward class) benefits is unfair to the impoverished OBC recipients of the (previous) OBC quota. You cannot ignore this.
In answer to a query on requests being made by certain politicians to include Marathas in the current OBC quota, Pawar stated, “The option is to make amendments by the Centre in Parliament to the existing 50% cap and add 15-16% to it.”
The OBC and other groups shouldn’t vary, he said.
Following a police baton charge and the use of tear gas to disperse an unruly crowd in the hamlet of Antarwali Sarathi in the Jalna district, the Maratha reservation once again took center stage last week. According to the police, demonstrators reportedly wouldn’t allow the transfer of a guy on a hunger strike for the Maratha quota to the hospital.
Pawar pressed the administration to identify the person who gave the order to baton-charge the demonstrators.
In the Jalna riots, a number of people—including 40 police officers—were hurt, and more than 15 state transportation vehicles were set fire.
The INDIA alliance, an opposition coalition of 28 parties hoping to challenge the BJP-led Centre in next year’s general elections, will meet on Wednesday, according to Pawar. Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress, has summoned the meeting.
Regarding the ‘One Nation, One Election’ plan, Pawar said that the Centre had established a panel to explore the matter, but had left out the Leader of the Opposition.
“I haven’t seen the administration establishing a committee with a former president as its chair in years. The Leader of the Opposition must be included on the panel, according to Pawar, if the government is serious about this.
The BJP-led Centre last week announced the creation of an eight-member committee to study the topic of conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, state legislatures, municipalities, and panchayats and to provide suggestions as soon as possible.
Home Minister Amit Shah, Congressman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Rajya Sabha opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, and former Finance Commission chairman N K Singh will serve on the committee, which will be led by former president Ram Nath Kovind, according to a formal announcement.
Chowdhury has opted out of joining the committee.
“Mallikarjun Kharge was not a member of the panel despite now serving as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. The party leader in Lok Sabha is Chowdhury, although he was included on the panel. This is an effort to draw attention away from problems that are affecting the nation, according to Pawar.
Regarding the drought-like conditions in many areas of Maharashtra, Pawar said that the government must take a number of actions, including providing livestock with food and water, taking efforts to salvage crops wherever feasible, offering financial support to farmers, and suspending all state taxes.
