Maharashtra: Special Assembly Session To Be Held Today, Maratha Quota Will Be On Agenda

The Maratha reservation issue will be discussed by the parliamentarians during a special Assembly session in Maharashtra on Tuesday. The decision to call a special session of the Maharashtra Assembly was prompted by Manoj Jarange Patil, a Maratha quota campaigner, who is now on a hunger strike in the village of Antarwali Saarati in the Jalna district.

The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission sent in a report on February 16 regarding their investigation into the Maratha community’s lack of social, economic, and educational advancement. Following the report’s submission, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde declared that reservations for Marathas would be granted under the law during the special assembly meeting.

According to CM Shinde, the survey was performed on about  2-2.5 crore people.

CM Shinde said, “The administration will submit the report to the cabinet committee, taking care to ensure that the OBC group is not left behind in the proceedings. We have scheduled a special assembly meeting on February 20. Following this, the Maratha reservation will be granted in accordance with the legislation.”

CM Shinde made clear that reservations for Marathas will be granted without affecting other communities’ current quota. He pleaded with Manoj Jarange Patil and others to break the fast, saying that the state government is in favour of granting the community a reservation.

Before the special session for Maratha reservation, posters praising Chief Minister Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, and the Maratha community were up on the roads leading to the Vidhan Bhavan.

#WATCH | Mumbai: Posters congratulating the government and the Maratha community put on roads leading to the Vidhan Bhavan before the special session for Maratha reservation pic.twitter.com/qnUUiKLobM

— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2024

The Maharashtra administration has come under fire from Maratha Kranti Morcha leader Sanjay Lakhe Patil, nevertheless, for holding a special session of the state assembly to discuss the Maratha quota issue while the lawsuit case is still pending in the Supreme Court.

The Maharashtra administration is using misleading strategies and the state’s attempt to pass a quota legislation was illegal, Lakhe Patil asserted.