‘Centre should issue ordinance’: Congress MLC Satej Patil says Fadnavis govt not serious about Marathas’ concerns

Patil said Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil had given a notice of three months ahead of his current agitation which was launched on August 29. “The government had three months, but did nothing on the reservation front. It was fast asleep for three months. It knew the Ganesh festival would be from August-end to September. Why didn’t the government anticipate (the current situation)? Is it not the Intelligence Bureau’s failure that they had no clue that so many Marathas were planning to come to Mumbai,” he asked.

“The government could have started discussions a month later… They could have gone to Jalna rather than waiting for agitators to land in Mumbai… In short, the government does not intend to resolve the issue, but wants to deliberately create chaos in Mumbai and defame the agitation,” the MLC added.

Patil said that if the government was serious about finding a solution to the reservation demand of the Marathas, it should immediately issue an ordinance. “It is now a well-established fact that a majority of the Maratha community population is living in a pitiable condition. This has been proved by several reports submitted to the government in this connection,” he stated.

“Therefore, the government should provide reservation to the poor Marathas. The Central Government has the power to issue an ordinance within 24 hours. It is the Centre which can carry out a Constitutional amendment and take reservation beyond 50 per cent as done in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

If the chief minister or deputy chief ministers cannot meet the activist, what was stopping the other ministers from engaging him in a dialogue, Patil asked. “Last year, the government was sending ministerial delegations to Jalna… Now what is stopping them from engaging the activist when he is in Mumbai and near their doorstep?”

Instead of going all-out to defame the agitators, the state government should engage them in discussions and try to find a solution, Patil said. “When the activist has said that he is ready to hold talks, then the government should take two steps forward and not allow things to get out of hand or try pressure tactics,” he said.