By Express News Service
MUMBAI: Even as the Maratha quota stir turned violent, the politics around the issue has started heating up. While at least two MLAs have resigned from their posts till now, the NCP and the Congress have targeted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis blaming him for letting the situation escalate and Shiv Sena said that the BJP is contemplating changing the Chief Minister.
Shiv Sena MLA Harshavardhan Jadhav, who represents Kannad assembly constituency from Aurangabad district offered to resign in support of the Maratha quota demand.
He had recently announced to step down if the demands of the agitating Maratha community are not met. He was participating in a sit up stir at the collector's office since two days and had given a deadline till 5 pm today. Accordingly after 5 pm he sent a letter to Legislative Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde, Jadhav.
The letter stated that he was tendering his resignation this afternoon. He is the son-in-law of BJP's state unit president Raosaheb Danve. Another MLA from adjacent district Bhausaheb Patil Chikatgaonkar, who represents Vaijapur assembly constituency for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) too announced that he is resigning to push for the Maratha quota cause.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, in a statement released here last night had blamed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil for failing to handle the situation in the state in a sensibly.
State Congress chief Ashok Chavan accused the government of planning to destabilize communal harmony by forcing Maratha leaders to escalate the agitation. "The government is planning to isolate the Maratha community by letting the leaders to escalate the agitation and pitching the other social groups in the state against the community," Chavan said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Leader of opposition in the state assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil accused the government of assigning duties to revenue and police officers based on their castes while handling the Maratha stir."Such an utterly casteist things had never happened in the state in past 60 years. But, the BJP government has done so in just 4 years.
I have credible information that the officers were called over phone and asked to name their castes before assigning duties to them. This amounts to questioning integrity of the officers based on their cast," he said. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut told the media persons that the BJP is contemplating to change the Chief Minister. However, finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and revenue minister Chandrakant Patil quickly refuted the claim.
"The state government has completely failed to handle the situation and hence Modi-Shah duo should take a decision on leadership change," Raut had said while adding that whatever Pawar had said too is true.
