No politics should be done on Maratha reservation issue: Maha Congress leader

After attending the all-party meeting, Thorat said, My party and I believe that there should be no politics on this. We will listen to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and extend support to the positive initiatives that will be taken by the govt

Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat on Monday said that no politics should be done on the issue of Maratha reservation adding that his party will welcome and extend support to the positive initiatives taken by the state government on this matter.

After attending the all-party meeting, Thorat said, “My party and I believe that there should be no politics on this. We will listen to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and extend support to the positive initiatives that will be taken by the govt.”

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An all-party meeting on the Maratha reservation chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde started at Sahyadari Guest House in Mumbai on Monday. Along with CM Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar also took part in the meeting.

In this regard, the former Rajya Sabha MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati also said that he wrote letters to Uddhav Thackeray when he was the Chief Minister and he also wrote letters to current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. “I have been writing letters to Uddhav Thackeray when he was CM also wrote to Eknath Shinde too and I have also gone on hunger strike for reservation. For past more than 2 years govt has done nothing but now due to Jarange Patil hunger strike govt has called an all-party meeting,” he said.

“Government must clear its stand on Maratha reservation. I have kept my stand in the meeting. I was not supposed to come for the meeting but it’s for the community so I attended the meeting. Govt must listen to the demand of Jarange Patil as he has stopped drinking water and medical aid too. Govt must take decision now. It’s getting late now,” he added.

Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Ambadas Danve and Vijay Wadettiwar were also invited to the meeting.

Jayant Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Anil Parab, Rajesh Tope, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Raju Patil, Vinod Nikolay, Sadbhau Khot, Rajendra Gavai, Sunil Tatkare, Gautam Sonawane are some of the leaders were also present in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Maratha outfits had called for a bandh today in protest against the recent lathi charge by the police in Jalna district against protesters demanding reservation in Maharashtra.

The call for a bandh (shutdown) has received widespread support from various political parties. Suhas Desai, the head of the city unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), has voiced his support for the Bandh. Similarly, Pradeep Shinde, the city president of the Shiv Sena (UBT), has also backed the move.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday night held a meeting with a group of protesters from Jalna in Mumbai, and later said that “there was a positive discussion.” The meeting was convened after a delegation of protesters from Jalna came and met CMÂ Eknath Shinde in Mumbai.

The protesters have been demanding reservation for the Maratha community.

The meeting was convened after a delegation of protesters from Jalna came and met CM Eknath Shinde in Mumbai.The protesters have been demanding reservation for the Maratha community.

“There has been a positive discussion with the delegation sent by Maratha agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil. This delegation will discuss with Manoj Jarange, and we hope that this will find a way, CM Shinde said while speaking to reporters after the meeting.

On September 1, a clash broke out between police and those demanding reservations for the Maratha community. Police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the demonstrators.

Meanwhile, Manoj Jarange Patil who works as a coordinator for the Maratha Morcha and has been on a hunger strike for the past few weeks for Maratha reservations continued his strike.

He has held extensive talks with the Maharashtra government but a breakthrough is yet to be achieved.
Jarange Patil has demanded a change in the ordinance issued by the state government regarding Maratha reservations. Their stand is that the fast to death will continue unless the desired change is made in the ordinance.