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On the back- foot ever since the Maratha quota stir hit the state, an embattled Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in an effort to bring an amicable solution has now said all constitutional obligations in connection with granting reservations to the Maratha community in the state would be completed by November this year.
This is seen as an attempt to make peace with the community which through its protests had brought the state to a halt.
During a 15-minute address on state television and radio, he said the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) would inform the Bombay High Court on 7 August about when it will submit its report regarding the Maratha quota. He said that once the report of the MSBCC was submitted, a special session of the state legislature would be convened within a month to pass a “law or resolution” regarding granting reservations to the community. The CM said MSBCC was a statutory body and cannot be “pressured” to submit the report quickly.
The commission is in the process of collecting “quantifiable” data. “About 1.86 lakh evidences and data have been collected,” he said, appealing to the community to shun violence as a “handful of people” were giving a bad name to the silent marches held for reservation earlier, which were seen as a model form of protest.
