Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday demanded the Centre to resolve the issue of Maratha reservation by calling a special session of Parliament, and said if the need arises, Union ministers from the state should resign in protest.
Addressing a press conference here, he demanded that the Maratha and Dhangar communities should also get reservation. Attacking Chief minister Eknath Shinde, Thackeray asked what he was doing since the last one-and-a-half years and said the state government cannot shirk away from its responsibility.
“This issue should be addressed by the Centre. This can only be resolved in the Lok Sabha. I have been saying this and I say it again that the government should call a special session of Parliament (to resolve the issue),” Thackeray said.
He said the issue should be raised by Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Bharati Pawar, Bhagwat Karad, Piyush Goyal, Kapil Patil, Raosaheb Danve with the prime minister.
“If the issue is not addressed, then they should resign,” the former chief minister said, adding that if this does not help solve the issue, then all 48 MPs of Lok Sabha should tender resignation. Hitting back at him, CM Shinde said Thackeray has no moral right to speak on the issue and dubbed him as the “killer” of Maratha reservation.
“It was the Devendra Fadnavis government which gave reservation to the Maratha community and it also withstood the legal test in the Bombay High Court. But when it went to the Supreme Court, the reservation was struck down. Who was the CM then?” Shinde said.
Meanwhile, Thackeray also had said his government retained the same set of lawyers which were appointed by the earlier Fadnavis-led government while the case was being contested in the apex court.
The Sena (UBT) president said there was unease in the state over the Maratha reservation issue. “Even if a special session of the state legislature is required, it should be convened,” he added.
Incidents of violence have erupted in parts of Maharashtra, especially the Marathwada region, with the Maratha quota supporters vandalising the residences and offices of some politicians.
Thackeray said those behind the arson want to defame Maharashtra so that new investments and industries do not come to the state.
Activist Manoj Jarange has been on an indefinite fast since October 25 at his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district to demand Maratha reservation.
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