NCP led by the former Union minister said the Election Commission had sought its response to a petition filed by Ajit Pawar, and the party submitted its "preliminary response" to the poll panel on September 7.
Maharashtra cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal has demanded a stay on the Kunbi caste certificates issued to Marathas following their latest agitation for reservation and scrapping of the Justice (retired) Sandeep Shinde committee formed over the quota issue.
Any move of the present government to appease the Marathas may boomerang. Eknath Shinde is a worried man with the agitation not having an easy solution, notes Ramesh Menon.
The decision comes a day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said a government-appointed committee scrutinised 1.72 crore old documents (including those of Nizam-era) and among them, 11,530 records were found where Kunbi caste was mentioned.
The BJP cannot afford to alienate the OBCs, who have explicitly voiced their opposition to the Maratha quota.
Raut was referring to the recent war of words between state ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Shambhuraj Desai.
A Maratha community member from Dharashiv in Maharashtra, who was the first one to be given the Kunbi caste certificate in the district as part of the ongoing survey exercise, has decided to return the document to the authorities, saying he wants all Marathas in the state to be given this benefit.
A protest for Maratha reservation in Jalna district of central Maharashtra turned violent on Friday, leading to dozens of persons including police personnel getting injured, officials said.
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