NCP leader Supriya Sule on Thursday charged Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for last week’s police action against Maratha quota agitators in Jalna and also asserted that both the state and Union governments displayed a lack of commitment towards addressing the reservation concerns of diverse communities.
While addressing a press conference, she also appealed to the Centre to call a special session of Parliament to address the reservation issue.
On September 1, police baton-charged and fired tear gas shells at Antarwali Sarathi hamlet in Jalna district to quell a tumultuous crowd after protesters allegedly refused to allow authorities to transfer an activist on hunger strike for the Maratha quota demand to a hospital. As a result of the violence, 40 police officers and others were hurt, and more than 15 state transit buses were set ablaze.
“The state and Union governments are not serious about quotas for Marathas, Lingayats, Muslims, Dhangars etc. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis spoke about solving the Dhangar reservation issue in a meeting in front of our house in Baramati, but he seems to have forgotten about it,” Sule said.
“The police lathi-charged protesters in Jalna for which Fadnavis (who holds the Home portfolio in the Eknath Shinde government) is responsible. The Union government must convene a special session of Parliament to find a solution to the issue of reservations,” stated the working president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Notably, Fadnavis stated earlier this week that the administration regrets the use of force by police against Maratha quota protesters in Jalna.
“The Maharashtra government expresses regret for the use of force by police in Jalna district a few days back,” he said on Monday.
Sule also mentioned that farmers were facing distress due to the lack of rain, which has also resulted in a paucity of fodder for cattle, but the government was not extending any relief.
Mocking the state government’s ‘Shasan Aplya Dari’ (government at your doorstep) initiative, the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati stated that what is prevailing is “ED and CBI (central probe agencies) at your doorstep,” referring to cases against various opposition politicians.
The Centre was afraid of the opposition INDIA bloc, and therefore it had started speculation on a name change for the country, she asserted.
Speaking on the situation in the NCP, she maintained that there was no division within the organization and that Jayant Patil still served as the state unit leader and Sharad Pawar remained the party’s national president.
On July 2, Ajit Pawar and eight NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde government.