Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi will hold a meeting with Maharashtra Congress leaders in Delhi. (File)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has called a meeting of senior party leaders from Maharashtra on August 8 to discuss the ongoing agitation of the Maratha community for reservation, a party source said Friday. The meeting will be held in Delhi, said a senior Congress leader. The agitation of the politically influential Maratha community has put the BJP-led state government on the back foot, with protests taking a violent turn in many parts of the state. Many Congress MLAs had announced last week that they would resign from the Assembly to put pressure on the government to accede to the demand. State Congress chief Ashok Chavan had said the decision in this regard would be taken after a discussion with the party’s central leadership.
The Maratha quota agitation had turned violent in many places of Maharashtra in July demanding reservation in jobs and education. The police had 20 people for instigating violence in the guise of participating in the Maratha Morcha. The Maratha groups have also called for a protest on August 9. The officials have assured additional security cover would be extended to the districts of Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Nanded range, which had witnessed violent protests in the last fortnight. The Maratha community constitutes about 30 per cent of the state population. Elections to the Maharashtra Assembly are due next year.