Legislators lock Mantralaya gate, demand special session

Mumbai: A group of 23 legislators from various parties except the BJP staged a protest in front of the Mantralaya on Wednesday in support of the demand for reservation to the Maratha community. The legislators also locked the main gate of the secretariat – a first in its history, and raised slogans demanding a special session of the legislature to resolve the issue. The agitation continued for around one hour, till the police intervened and forcefully detained the legislators.

The state government had called an all-party meeting at the Sahyadri guest house on Wednesday to discuss the Maratha reservation issue. Once the meeting started, legislators surprised the Mantralaya security by starting the protest. At around 10.45am, they assembled in front of the main gate of Mantralaya which is used by chief minister and other ministers to enter the building. Suddenly, they closed the gate and locked it, demanding a special session of the legislature.

After about an hour, the police and administration intervened to end the agitation. Police detained the legislators and put them in a van. They then asked the legislators for the key that was used to lock the main gate, which was with NCP (Ajit faction) MLA Nilesh Lanke.

Legislators who were part of the protest included Kailas Patil and Rahul Patil from the Shiv Sena (UBT); Nilesh Lanke, Satish Chavan, Vikram Kale, Amol Mitkari, Dilip Bankar, Babajani Durani from the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction); Mohanrao Hambarde and Suresh Warpudkar from the Congress.

“Manoj Jarange-Patil is on hunger strike and his condition is not good. So it is necessary to call a special session of assembly to resolve the Maratha reservation issue,” said Kailas Patil. He also alleged that the state government was responsible for the current crisis.

Meanwhile, some other legislators from NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and Shiv Sena (UBT) staged a protest on the steps of Vidhan Bhavan. Those who were part of this protest included Supriya Sule, Jitendra Awhad, Rohit Pawar and Shashikant Shinde from NCP; and Narendra Darade, Vilas Potnis and Ajay Chaudhari from Shiv Sena.

“Maharashtra is burning due to the reservation issue. The law-and-order situation in the state is very bad and home minister Devendra Fadnavis should immediately resign from his post.” said Sule.