Uproar in both houses of state legislature over Maratha-OBC quota row

Mumbai: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance’s decision to boycott Tuesday’s all-party meeting on the Maratha-Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation row led to an uproar in both houses of the state legislature on Wednesday.

The ruling and opposition alliances both accused each other of creating a rift between the two communities. Sloganeering from both sides in the legislative assembly and council eventually led to the adjournment of both houses without completing the scheduled business. However, the Mahayuti alliance managed to pass supplementary demands of ₹94,000 crore without discussion. Supplementary demands are additional funds sought by the government over and above the state budget allocations.

While the Mahayuti alliance slammed the opposition leaders for not attending the all-party meeting called by chief minister Eknath Shinde to discuss the demand to include Marathas in the OBC quota, MVA leaders accused the ruling parties of not taking them into confidence.

In the state assembly, BJP MLAs Ashish Shelar, Ameet Satam, Sanjay Kute, and Nitesh Rane led the attack on the MVA, even as legislators from the treasury benches stormed the well while sloganeering against the opposition. MVA leaders, meanwhile, raised questions over the state government’s handling of the quota issue.

Caught in a catch-22 situation as Marathas and OBCs have stood against each other over the demand to include Marathas in the OBC quota, the ruling parties tried to turn the table on the opposition in the state legislature. The Mahayuti accused the opposition parties of orchestrating a rift between the two communities and hatching a conspiracy to derail the quota given to Marathas.

Satam said the opposition parties should first clear their stand on whether they are in favour of Marathas being included in the OBC quota. “In some villages, there is a vertical split between Marathas and OBCs. They do not attend each other’s weddings and other ceremonies. The opposition wants to play politics over the reservation issue. Some leaders in Marathwada sent out messages among the Marathas to create animosity by spreading fake narratives. There should be an investigation by an SIT into it,” he said.

Former minister Kute added that the BJP-led government gave a quota to the Maratha community twice, but some opposition leaders are hatching a conspiracy to strike it down before the assembly elections.

MLAs from the ruling parties approached the well sloganeering against the opposition and condemned their stand on reservation. Amid the commotion, the assembly was adjourned three times before being adjourned for the day.

During the uproar, finance minister Ajit Pawar moved a motion to clear supplementary demands of ₹94,889 crore, which were passed without any discussion. Three important bills, including one to curb unfair practices in competitive exams, were also passed within minutes without discussion.

In the legislative council, deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe urged members from both sides to keep their distance to avoid any untoward incident. Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve tried to explain the opposition’s reason to remain absent for the all-party meeting, but he could not speak due to the commotion. Amid the ruckus, supplementary demands were approved, and Gorhe adjourned the house for the day.

Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar alleged that the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena were misguiding Marathas and OBCs by speaking to them in different tones.

“The Mahayuti government has been creating a rift between two communities and does not want to maintain transparency over the quotas. This is why they have not been discussing the issue in the houses. We have not been taken into confidence on the reservation issue in the past. The chief minister speaks to one community, and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis speaks to the other community as they want to keep both communities in limbo. To cover up their failure, they created a ruckus in the house, leading to the adjournments,” Wadettiwar said.