To cool down the fire of Maratha reservation movement that was raging in Maharashtra after the lathi charge on Marathas in Jalna, the government on Monday hurriedly called a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee constituted for Maratha reservation. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, both Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were also present in this meeting. After the meeting, in a press conference, all three expressed regret over the lathi charge incident in Jalna. Also accused the opposition of baking political bread. The press conference saw state Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis apologize to the citizens for the lathi charge by the police on innocent civilians in Jalna. Fadnavis said that everyone knows that the decision of lathicharge is not taken by the minister, but by the SP and DSP level police officers present on the spot. He also enumerated the work done by the government for the upliftment of Maratha society.
On the opposition’s allegation that the order for lathi charge was given by the ministry, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar challenged in the press conference and said that if the opposition proves that any of the three of us has ordered lathi charge, then I will leave politics. If unable to prove, then the opposition will have to leave politics.
On the pretext of the meeting, the government announced the setting up of a new committee to look into ways to issue Kunbi caste certificates to the Maratha community of Marathwada, and said the committee would submit a report to the government within a month. The Chief Minister said in the press conference that the government is serious on this issue. Shinde said that I have directed the officials to study the Supreme Court’s decision on Maratha reservation and suggest a solution. We need to establish that the Maratha community is backward.
At the same time, Manoj Jarange-Patil, coordinator of Maratha Kranti Morcha, who is fasting to demand reservation for Maratha community, said that until the government does not issue the Government Order (GR) for Maratha reservation, the movement will not stop and he will continue fasting unto death. He said that he will wait till Tuesday for the government to come up with the GR, after which he will also stop drinking water. He said that the government has one day’s time to take the decision.