Shinde, Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar avoiding Jalna as they fear backlash, says Sanjay Raut

As the Maratha reservation issue continues to rock Maharashtra, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Tuesday wanted to know why Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his two deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar have not visited Jalna yet.

The fast-unto-death being undertaken by Manoj Jarange-Patil in Antarwali Sarathi village near Dhule-Solapur road in Ambad tehsil of Jalna entered its eighth day on Tuesday.

Leading the attack on the Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP dispensation, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said: "Shinde, Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar fighting shy of going to Jalna, they are fearing massive backlash.”

Raut said that Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray went to Jalna and extended full support to the Maratha community. “Come hell or high water, Shiv Sena (UBT) is strongly behind the Maratha community. Thackeray went to Jalna to express rock-solid support to Maratha community members who were brutally lathi-charged, but why is Maharashtra's one full, two half shying away from Jalna?” he wanted to know.

State Congress president Nana Patole too hit out at the government. "The government has asked for a month's time, this seems like yet another time-buying tactic. The attempt by the government to deflect criticism of the Maratha reservation on the MVA is laughable. Fadnavis claimed to have given a reservation that would stand in court, so why was it struck down by the Supreme Court? Why didn't the BJP govt include the Maratha reservation in the 9th schedule by discussing it with the central government? It's clear that the BJP doesn't want to give reservation,” he said.

NCP president Sharad Pawar demanded that the Centre remove the 50 per cent cap on quota and raise it by 15-16 per cent to accommodate more communities, amid the renewed focus on Maratha reservation in Maharashtra.