Maharashtra is going to hold assembly elections, ahead of which the political atmosphere has heated up due to the Maratha reservation movement. From the ruling Maharaja Maharaja to the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Maratha reservation movement has added to the party’s troubles. If they support Manoj Jarange’s demands, then there are fears that the OBC will be fragmented and if they oppose, then the anti-Maratha tag may get stuck, and political parties are wary of it. What is the Congress’s stance on the Maratha reservation? Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister in the state’s previous Congress government, answered the question on stage at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai.
Prithviraj Chavan said, I am the first chief minister to provide reservation to the Maratha community. We have a 16% retention fee set aside for the Maratha community. He said the provision was rejected by the courts. The reason is that the booking volume therefore exceeds the 50% limit. Chavan said if that was the case, then how did Prime Minister Modi provide 10% booking for EWS? In many other states, bookings are more than that.
He alleged that the Modi government had taken away the rights reserved by the state governments. Regarding the need for caste census, Prithviraj Chavan said that the socio-economic status of caste should be seen. It is too late to conduct a census. He said the caste census was a policy of the Congress and there was no objection to it. Prithviraj Chavan, when asked about the anger of G-23 leaders against the Congress leadership, said there is no such thing, there is no G-23 or G-24. A letter written to Sonia Gandhi was leaked and this was the label given by the media.
Also read: How will the MVA elect the chief minister? Former Prime Minister Prithviraj Chavan spoke about the formula at an India Today conclave
The former CM said that when asked about Veer Savarkar, he said that there are two aspects to his character as well. One aspect we remember is the great national hero, the freedom fighter. Another aspect is also his chapter on the Andaman cells. Responding to the government’s slogan against the 15 stalls, he said the public was dissatisfied with the way the provinces were trading like vegetables. The former minister said each MLA was sold for Rs 15 crore. MLAs must answer this question publicly.
The industry did not come because of wrong policies
Former Prime Minister Prithviraj Chavan claimed that no industry entered Maharashtra in the past 10 years due to the wrong policies of the Modi government. He said cases of farmers committing suicide are increasing. 37 IT companies left Pune because of poor traffic conditions. Reminding Devendra Fadnavis of his commitment to iPhone production, the former chief minister said that in 2018, Fadnavis had said that 26 per cent of iPhones would be produced in Maharashtra Produced in Labang. What happened to this promise?
What did the leader say when he quit the party?
Asked about the departure of important leaders from Maharashtra from Milind Deora to Ashok Chavan from the Congress, Prithviraj Chavan said, “Some of our leaders have left the party and gone to the Lok Sabha seats. The Shiv Sena broke with the NCP but not the Congress. He claimed that farmers are also angry and the public chose MVA among the two alliances in the recent Lok Sabha elections and will choose MVA in the Assembly elections.
Regarding Sushil Shinde’s statement on the situation in Kashmir and the latest changes during the UPA government, Prithviraj Chavan said that it may be his personal thoughts. Nitin Gadkari said he received an invitation to become the Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha elections. When asked about this, he said I did not make the offer. I don’t have that much power. To whom shall I sacrifice?
