Maharashtra: Political slugfest kicks off as Supreme Court strikes down Maratha quota

Even as the Supreme Courtrsquos scrapping of the Maratha quota led to the uprising of the statersquos largest community on Wednesday the Opposition and the ruling parties kicked off a political slugfest over the defeat in the legal battleground While Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the Centre enact a law to reinstate the communityrsquos reservation in government jobs and education opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said the MVA government deliberately lost the case in the court because it did not want the BJP to get credit for giving the quota that was legislated by the previous governmentA man shaves his head in protest against the verdict in Goregaon on WednesdayThe morning verdict triggered a massive reaction from the members of the Maratha community who defied the pandemic restrictions to agitate on the streets The defiance in some places was in contrast to the silent mega morchas taken out in the state demanding the quota Police acted promptly to avoid a law and order situation while the community leaders and Thackeray appealed for peaceThe BJPled government had passed the Socially and Educationally Backward Class SEBC Act giving Marathas 16 per cent quota in jobs and education in November 2018 The Bombay High Court had upheld the validity of the law but reduced the quota for jobs to 13 per cent and for education to 12 per centThe law was challenged in the SC which on Wednesday said there was no valid ground to breach the 50 per cent cap on reservation imposed by it some 30 years ago But it ruled that all admissions made to postgraduate medical courses and jobs given under the new law will not be disturbed by its verdictUnfortunate decision CMThackeray said the verdict was unfortunate for the community adding that the state government would continue to fight for it in the court ldquoThe court said the state does not have the right to give reservations The court also scrapped the backward commission report It is a sort of advice for Maharashtra that only the Centre and the President can decide on the quotas If so then we request the prime minister and the president with folded hands to give Marathas a reservation with immediate effectrdquo he said in a statement ldquoEarlier the Centre had decided in Shah Bano case Atrocities Act and Article 370 It also amended the Constitution We expect the same kind of justice for Marathasrdquo he addedThackeray wondered why the PM hadnrsquot given BJPrsquos Rajya Sabha member and Maratha leader Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje time to discuss the reservation issue He said the verdict cannot be welcomed and cautioned that the incident should not be used to disturb peace in the time of the pandemiclsquoMVA messed uprsquoFadnavis under whose stewardship the BJPSena government granted Marathas quota alleged that the MVA killed the reservation in the legal battle only for denying the BJP a credit ldquoThe SCrsquos verdict is painful We gave Marathas what they didnrsquot get in 50 years Our government argued the case very strongly in the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court Since the Shiv Sena was with us then it has no right to speak against us now Even the then Opposition supported the law and passed the legislation without debating it It is unfair to blame the previous government for the MVArsquos failurerdquo he saidThe former CM said the MVA was wrong in understanding the verdict that in fact does not stop the government from making a law ldquoThe state can again make a law for Maratha quota and prove to the court the necessity of crossing the 50 per cent cap on reservation The chief minister should seek the advocate generalrsquos advicerdquo he saidFadnavis also claimed the MVA had no strategy and lacked coordination ldquoThe statersquos lawyers said they did not have information or instructions Even the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission reportrsquos annexures werenrsquot translated to English for the Supreme Courtrsquos consideration The annexure could have proved that the commission had taken into consideration the views of the people who opposed reservation for Marathas because the state was asked if the commissionrsquos report was unilateralrdquoIn his evening address Thackeray said he will officially write to the PM and the president asking to give Marathas a reservation in government jobs and education He dismissed the Oppositionrsquos allegations saying that the lawyers who represented the state during Fadnavisrsquos time also argued on behalf of the government till the end