No injustice will be done to Other Backward Classes or any other community while giving reservation to the Marathas, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured on Wednesday on the eve of the monsoon session of the state legislature.
Holding a press conference here along with his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Shinde said the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP alliance would not shower assurances on people, but the budget to be presented during the session — last before the assembly elections — will be beneficial for farmers, the youth and women.
“No injustice will be done to the OBCs or any other community while giving reservation to the Maratha community,” he said, pointing out that the Mahayuti government convened a special session to give 10 per cent reservation to the Marathas earlier this year.
While the Marathas led by Manoj Jarange are demanding reservation in the OBC category, OBC leaders including senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal are opposed to sharing reservation with the Marathas.
Shinde, meanwhile, also asserted that the government will not abandon farmers.
The Opposition was unable to see the development work carried out by his government, the chief minister said, and claimed that Maharashtra had become an investment destination, contrary to the Opposition’s allegation that big-ticket projects were going to Gujarat.
Earlier in the day, the Opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance boycotted the customary tea party organised by the chief minister before the start of the session.
The government has failed to address the issues of the masses including those of farmers, MVA leaders alleged.
Accusing the Opposition of spreading lies, deputy CM Fadnavis said the government will expose the ”factory of false narrative” in the monsoon session.
The Opposition should ask itself why a single irrigation project in Vidarbha region was not approved by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the BJP leader said.
CM Shinde took a jibe at the Congress, saying it won only 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, the highest in the last three Lok Sabha elections, and will take 25 years to reach the figure of 240.
”(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi won and you lost,” he said.
Fadnavis alleged that it was during the MVA rule that most paper leaks took place in the state.
He also accused the MVA government of closing the water grid programme for Marathwada.
”The government is ready for discussion during the session and to respond to all questions. The government is fully prepared,” he asserted.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said there was no place for the Manusmriti in a state like Maharashtra. He was responding to a row over alleged mention of the ancient text in a draft curriculum.
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