At the state level, Pawar appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the quota dispute.
The Shiv Sena on Friday came out in support of the demand that the Maratha community be included in the Other Backward Classes category. The Marathas are considered to be the 'ruling caste' of the state, yet a demand for inclusion in OBCs has been gaining strength of late.
Following calls for the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's grave, authorities in Maharashtra, India, have increased security at the site. Visitors are now required to show identification before entering. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has staged protests and submitted memorandums demanding the grave's removal, citing Aurangzeb's history of conflict with the Marathas and his persecution of other religious groups. The caretaker of the grave has maintained that the situation is peaceful and that visitor numbers have declined since the controversy arose.
Prashant Koratkar, a former journalist accused of using offensive language against Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, has been granted bail by a sessions court in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Koratkar was arrested on March 24 and had been remanded in judicial custody. He was accused of threatening historian Indrajeet Sawant and making derogatory remarks against the revered historical figures. The sessions court granted him bail on a surety of Rs 50,000.
The judgment came on a batch of pleas challenging the Bombay high court verdict which had upheld the grant of reservation to Marathas in admissions and government jobs in the state.
'Our legal team is doing their best to argue the matter in the court.'
PWD Minister Ashok Chavan later told reporters that the application was filed on Monday morning and added the counsels representing the government will try to see that the hearing on the application takes place soon.
...'hum decide karenge kaun banega mukhyamantri. This decision is not to be taken in Mumbai.'
'Theirs is not a campaign for diffused issues like social justice and equity. They have three clearly articulated demands.'
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Monday claimed Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde met him before the state polls last year along with his associate Walmik Karad, arrested later in an extortion case linked to the murder of a sarpanch.
The speculation about the likely cabinet reshuffle in Maharashtra strengthened on Saturday, with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule stressing that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' discretion is supreme among allies.
The government said it would complete the process of quota for Marathas, which had remained incomplete after the high court stayed it in 2014.
Marathas have been declared as socially and educationally backward class of citizens and have inadequate representation in services under the state. They are entitled to reservation benefits and advantages enshrined in the Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution, the recommendations mentioned.
Marathas, a politically influential community that constitutes around 30 per cent of the state's population, have been demanding 16 per cent reservation in government jobs and education.
Owaisi said 324 farmers have died by suicide in "Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) division", but no one is talking about it.
The top court, which refused to pass any interim stay order on the quota, said chances of physical court seem remote due to the persisting COVID-19 pandemic. A bench of Justices L N Rao, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhatt asked the parties said that all parties should sit together and decide on modalities of hearing like who will take how much time and no one shall repeat the arguments.
The state government is worried that the agitation may pose a serious threat to it, reports Sanjay Jog.
Marathas, a politically-influential community constituting around 30 per cent of the state's population, have been demanding reservation in jobs and education.
The government will stand guarantor for loans to be disbursed to youth from the community.
Speaking at an event in Nagpur, he also said the 'Akhand Bharat' or undivided India will become a reality before today's youngsters become old, as those who separated from India in 1947 are now feeling that they made a mistake.
'Where should shudra-OBCs go because of whom the nation is surviving?'
Representatives of the Maratha community attributed the stepping up of pressure by the community to the "arrogance and lies" told to its members by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, and the "uncontrolled anger" among its youth over the delay in getting reservations.
Around 20 policemen, including eight officers, were injured in stone-pelting by protesters at Kopar Khairane and Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai.
The man, identified as Pramod Jaising Hore, had posted a message on his Facebook page and shared a message on WhatsApp on Sunday, saying he would be ending his life in support of the reservation demand, said Mukundwadi police station's Senior Inspector Natha Jadhav.
The free education policy should be amended so that boys also get free education besides girls, and all Marathas should get free education "from KG to PG" (kindergarten to post-graduation) until the entire community gets reservation, he said.
The former chief minister also said that Shiv Sena blew the issue surrounding Ranaut out of proportion by issuing threats to her followed by her property's demolition.
Activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government to make it clear whether it is ready to provide reservation to the entire Maratha community and why it needs more time in granting quota to it.
Three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have threatened to contest as Independents from Jalna in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls after the seat went to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena as part of the Mahayuti's seat-sharing arrangement.
Bhujbal, who has strongly opposed the demand to include the Marathas in the other backward classes category for quota benefits, said a new social system is taking shape in Maharashtra which is different from the order envisaged by prominent social reformers.
"The government recruitment is frozen. Where are the jobs?" the minister said.
With an eye on assembly elections after severe drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government on Wednesday approved 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and five per cent for Muslims in government jobs and education institutions.
'The BJP alliance needs to handle the Maratha quota issue skilfully and address its root cause, which is agrarian distress. Then there is stalled industrialisation. If these issues are addressed, caste fault lines would wither away. But, this is next to impossible in a short span of three-four months.'
Bhujbal said he had an elaborate discussion with the CM on the prevailing political and social atmosphere in the state.
'There are legions of unemployed degree holders across rural and semi-urban belts in Maharashtra. Now, they aren't finding brides.' 'This issue has now snowballed into a social crisis. In 2014 and 2019, they had voted for the BJP.'
A man demanding reservation for the community jumped to his death in a river in Aurangabad district.
'The participants and organisers have rejected their own political leadership and shown the door to leaders who have tried to claim power at these rallies.' 'Instead, the Maratha masses have reclaimed their power and stakes in the larger scheme of things.'
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.
Addressing a Social Unity Conference in Navi Mumbai on Sunday evening, Pawar also criticised the Centre's handling of the ethnic strife in Manipur, which has claimed several lives since last May.
'Since September 1, a senior cabinet minister has been to-ing and fro-ing between Jalna and Mumbai by chartered flight every single day with messages from the two deputy chief ministers and the chief minister to get Manoj Jarange-Patil to back down from his agitation.'
A right wing organisation on opposed the reservation for Marathas and Muslims approved by the Maharashtra Cabinet.
