Cabinet panel discussing Maratha quota; will find constitutionally valid solution: Fadnavis

Devendra Fadnavis

As activist Manoj Jarange launched a hunger strike for Maratha reservation in Mumbai on Friday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the cabinet sub-committee on the issue was discussing his demands, and will find a solution within the constitutional framework.

Jarange, who has been given the permission to stage his protest only for a day at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, has sought a fresh permission to continue the protest, and the police will consider it positively, Fadnavis told reporters.

Jarange launched his indefinite hunger strike on Friday morning as thousands of his supporters landed in south Mumbai, nearly crippling road traffic.

The state administration was working as per the directives of the Bombay High Court and will have to abide by its orders, the chief minister said.

"The cabinet sub-committee, which is empowered to discuss issues related to the Maratha community, is discussing Jarange's demands," Fadnavis said.

"The committee will find a solution within the legal and constitutional framework," he said.

Jarange has demanded that all Marathas to be recognised as Kunbis, an agrarian caste included in the OBC category, which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education. But the existing OBC communities are opposed to this.

His government was against pitting Marathas against the OBCs, the chief minister asserted, adding that it will not allow injustice to happen to any community.

"In the last ten years, my government has done a lot for the welfare of the Marathas, something no other government has done," the CM claimed.

A 10 per cent quota for the Marathas in education and jobs, enacted last year, has stood the legal validity, he said, while criticising Opposition parties for trying to get a political mileage from the Maratha reservation issue.

"Don't politicise the issue and try to escalate tensions between OBCs and Marathas. Our social fabric is important," he said.