IN THE wake of violence in Maharashtra’s Jalna district over the Maratha quota demand, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said his Government was committed to providing reservation to this community in education and Government jobs. Talking to reporters in Buldhana, he also said that there was no misunderstanding between him and two Deputy Chief Ministers in the State and that all of them were working as a good team. “My Government is committed to giving reservation to the Maratha community in the State.

 

We will not sit quiet until the community get its due reservation,” Shinde said. “Till the Maratha community gets reservation, the Government schemes that are already in place will continue and deserving people from the Maratha community will benefit from it,” he added. Reservation in jobs and education provided by the State Government to the Maratha community was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2021, citing the 50 per cent ceiling on total reservations among other grounds.

 

An agitation seeking reservation for the Marathas turned violent at Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna on Friday, leading to several people, including dozens of police personnel, getting injured. Police resorted to lathi-charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob that allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on a hunger strike as part of the quota stir to the hospital. Police registered a case against more than 360 people in connection with the violence, officials said. When asked why Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who along with eight other Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs joined his Government two months ago, was not present at the event, CM Shinde said, “Ajit Pawar informed me that he is unwell. He is down with fever, while Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is in Ladakh to attend a military event.” There was no misunderstanding among all three of them, he asserted. 

 

 

THE Maharashtra Government on Sunday sent Jalna district Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi on compulsory leave, two days after protesters demanding Maratha quota were baton-charged, triggering violence, sources said. Police have arrested 40 persons in connection with the violence that erupted in Jalna district on Friday, sources said. Police had baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in Antarwali Sarathi village after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital. Several persons including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 ST buses were set ablaze in violence. Some 360 persons have been booked in connection with the violence. Many Opposition leaders condemned police action.