With Maharashtra facing law and order situation over the simmering Maratha reservation issue that seems to have gripped the Eknath Shinde government, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar faction leader and MLA Rohit Pawar spoke exclusively to News18 and pointed out the communication gap between the state and Central governments in resolving the matter.
“To resolve the issue of Martha reservation, the state and Central governments should be involved. It seems there is a lack of communication between them. Continuous dialogue should happen on this issue, which is of utmost importance. The state government should appoint a minister or leader to hold dialogue with the Centre on the issue, only then we may have some solution,” Pawar said.
Pawar also questioned Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the 30-day deadline to fulfil the quota demand of the community led by activist Manoj Jarange-Patil who is on a hunger strike in Jalna district since October 25. “Why did the CM give a deadline of 30 days when everyone is aware of the fact that the issue is very complex and requires more time to resolve. This shows both the CM and his team have failed to handle the issue or their plan to buy more time and delay the talks. People had hopes when the CM said the solution will be found within 30 days but, in reality, he has disappointed the Maratha community. Hence, we are seeing the outburst of feelings of the people through these agitations,” said Rohit Pawar.
An all-party meeting was called on Wednesday, in which all stakeholders agreed on providing Maratha reservation, but it was decided that the quota should be within the framework of the law and without doing injustice to other communities.
With parties coming on the same page to refrain from doing politics on the Maratha issue, Pawar said it shows all are in tandem and making efforts together to resolve the problem. “The outcome of yesterday’s meeting was that no-one is going to do politics over this issue. Also, after the all-party meeting, Jarange-Patil has also taken a stand where he has shown willingness to further discuss the issue with the government. But now the onus lies on the CM to send his delegation for discussion and expedite the process”.
With internet services suspended in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra after the quota protest, Pawar expressed disappointment, and said, “The politics which is being played in Marathwada region, especially in Beed district, should be stopped. I will not comment now on what happened in Beed and who was behind this but later in detail will speak on the issue. Aggression in some places is an outbreak of people’s emotions towards the issue. But there are some instances where you can smell dirty politics. Violence will not solve the issue. The youth should ask people’s representatives questions and make them speak on the issue.”
The Opposition has demanded a special session of the state assembly on the Maratha quota issue based on which the proposal should be sent to Parliament, Pawar said the current government should expedite the process. “You can’t just make the decision in haste. During the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, we did everything that was possible but the problem which I feel was that, at the Centre, no-one was ready to speak with us on this.”
The Supreme Court had struck down the demand for Maratha quota, which took the total reservation in the state above the 50% cut-off set by the court in its 1992 Indra Sawhney (Mandal) judgment.
Some of the MPs and MLAs who have tendered their resignation over the quota row have caught the eye of Pawar who have questioned them for not raising the issue in the Assembly. “I want to ask the leaders who are in power or part of the power and talking about tendering their resignation as MP or MLA, why have they not raised this issue in the House? Why have they not uttered a single word on the floor of the House? These leaders are only speaking in Maharashtra about resigning. When people who have elected them ask them to raise their voices in Parliament or in the state assembly, they do not utter a single word. This is nothing but double standards.”
Pawar added that the quota demand should be fulfilled the way Centre passed the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation.
On NCP’s ‘Yuva Sangharsh Yatra’ that was suspended due to the Jarange-Patil’s fast-unto-death’ protest over the Maratha quota row, Pawar was denied entry at one village but was later escorted to the border of the village. “Why have people become so aggressive on the issue of reservation? Farmers are struggling daily because their tools and supplies have become costlier and the size of land has shrunk. Profit has gone down drastically in farming. The cost of education has increased, and those who are educated are struggling to get jobs. Hence, we told them that through this Yatra, we would take up the issues which the people are facing”.
Being the first-time MLA and coming from political lineage, Pawar had carried the baggage of expectations of his voters and also of his party workers. “I have seen a lot in the last few years. The coronavirus situation, my party forming the government in the state, split in my own party and in the family. But being a young MLA, my expectations from this government and all parties is that they should talk on issues to the point. No one is doing that. Everybody is playing politics of emotions, which will not resolve the issue of people. You may get votes for one time but if you want to permanently find the solutions to the problems, then have a dialogue over unemployment, women security, farmers’ issues, the state education system, crumbling health infrastructure. Unless we accept the bitter truth and find solution to the problems, we will remain the same for next many years.”