Special session of Maharashtra Assembly today, Maratha quota on the agenda

Maharashtra government will hold a special assembly session for one day.

Mumbai (Maharashtra):

The Maharashtra government will hold a special assembly session for a day on Tuesday to discuss the Maratha reservation issue.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday, after presenting the report during the special assembly session called on February 20, stressed that Marathas will be given reservation as per the terms of the law.

“The survey has been conducted on around 2-2.5 crore people… Keeping in mind that the OBC community is not left behind in the process, the government will present the report to the cabinet committee. We have called a meeting on February 20.” Special session of the Assembly, after which Maratha reservation will be given as per the terms of the law…,” Chief Minister Shinde said.

The decision to hold the session was taken in the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

“The Cabinet meeting has approved convening a one-day special session of the Legislature on Tuesday, February 20, to discuss various demands of the Maratha community,” a note issued by the Chief Minister’s Office said.

The decision to call a special session was taken by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil, who is on hunger strike in Antarwali Sarti village in Jalna district.

After the Maha Vikas Aghadi meeting, Congress President Nana Patole said that the Maharashtra Assembly session will begin from Monday, adding that the meeting is being held to chalk out a strategy for the session.

“The Maharashtra Assembly session begins tomorrow. The arrangement is that they should call the opposition for the BAC and discuss the proceedings of the House. However, the BJP government in the state does not want to follow the constitutional process. Therefore, we Have come together to make a strategy for the session,” Mr Patole told ANI.

Meanwhile, the political scenario of Maharashtra is unstable as Sharad Pawar has lost his party name and election symbol.

Veteran politician Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the Election Commission’s decision to recognize the group led by his nephew Ajit Pawar as the ‘real’ Nationalist Congress Party was “not in accordance with the law.”

Sharad Pawar moved the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission’s decision to officially recognize the Ajit Pawar faction as the real NCP and use the party’s symbols.

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that the interim order of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which allowed veteran leader Sharad Pawar to use the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party – Sharad Chandra Pawar’, will continue till further orders.

On 6 February, the poll panel, applying the test of majority in the legislative wing, ruled that Ajit Pawar’s faction was the ‘real’ NCP and allowed this faction to use the ‘clock’ symbol for the party.

The Election Commission in its order said that the total number of NCP MLAs in the Maharashtra State Assembly is 81 and out of this, Ajit Pawar has submitted affidavits of 57 MLAs in his support, while Sharad Pawar has only 28 affidavits.

Therefore, the poll panel concluded that the Ajit Pawar faction has the majority support of the MLAs and can claim to be the NCP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)