Maratha quota, farm crisis issues likely to dominate Maharashtra Assembly session
Mumbai: Riding high on the BJP’s grand success in the recent assembly polls, the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra is expected to face little threat from the opposition parties in the winter session of the State Legislature, which begins in Nagpur on Thursday. However, issues like Maratha reservation, losses due to unseasonal rains and the growing cases of drug trafficking in the state are likely to pose real problems to it in the two-week session.
The winter session will be held between December 7-20 in Nagpur, the vice capital of Maharashtra.
The Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil has set a December 24 deadline to the state government to provide reservation to his community under the OBC category. He has asked the administration to pass a bill in the Winter Session to provide reservations to Marathas.
However, a prominent OBC leader and NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal has opposed the inclusion of Marathas into the OBC category saying it will dilute the OBCs quota share. This has resulted into the war of words between the Maratha and OBC leaders, raising the possibility of bringing the law and order situation in the state into crisis.
According to sources, the state government is unlikely to yield to Jarange-Patil's demand of including Marathas in the OBCs for the fear of incurring the wrath of the latter. Instead, it is likely to table a new bill providing seperate reservation to Marathas without including them in the OBC category.
The Maratha reservation issue will be discussed during the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature, deputy chairperson of the state Vidhan Parishad Neelam Gorhe had said.
The Maratha community's demand for reservation in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions took centre stage after Jarange-Patil launched a hunger strike over the issue. The agitation for quota took a violent turn in some parts of the state and has also witnessed suicides and attacks on legislator's residences.
The growing cases of drug trafficking have also put the state government in the trouble. The recent arrest of drug racketeer Lalit Patil has put the issue on the anvil with the Pune police on Thursday arresting a medical officer of the Sassoon General Hospital in connection with the case.
Patil, who was wanted in a multi-crore mephedrone seizure case, had escaped from the Sassoon General Hospital on October 2 when he was taken for an X-ray. He was apprehended in Bengaluru on October 17, more than two weeks after his escape. As many as 13 people have been arrested in the case so far.
The unseasonal rains and hailstorm has damaged the rabi crops on one lakh hectares in the state. The opposition MVA has demanded immediate relief to the farmers.
