Maharashtra: Is the Chief Minister left alone to deal with the Maratha reservation issue?

A picture of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde being isolated is seen when the agitation is raging over Maratha reservation. In the absence of any immediate concrete solution to the Maratha reservation, the question is what position to take. Shinde has been put to the test as the BJP also kept its hand in order not to shock the OBC vote base.

The government has faced a dilemma as the Maratha reservation agitation turned violent. Chief Minister Shinde attended the Cabinet Sub-Committee meeting on Maratha Reservation. Actually this committee is chaired by Chandrakant Patil and it includes various ministers. But as the issue of Maratha agitation took a serious turn, Chief Minister Shinde attended and reviewed it.

In the current difficult situation, both Deputy Chief Ministers did not appear on par with Shinde. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was on an election campaign tour in Chhattisgarh. Second Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is resting due to dengue infection. Due to this, the Chief Minister had to fight the fort alone.

At present, no solution is in sight on the Maratha reservation. This entire subject is under the jurisdiction of the central government. The Center will have to amend the Constitution and relax the limit of 50 percent reservation. This is an option. But it must be difficult for the Chief Minister to push the ball in the central government's court.  Because there is fear of displeasure of BJP leaders. The central government has refused to intervene on the issue of Maratha reservation.

It is not possible for the government to accept the demand of giving Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community. Chief Minister Shinde deliberately presented the statistics in the press conference. After scrutinising more than one and a half crore cases, the Shinde Committee announced that it had reported more than 11,000 Kunbi cases if possible. Shinde also indirectly indicated that Kunbi certificates cannot be given to the Maratha community because of this.

Law and order problems have arisen in Beed after the violence. Attacks on the residences and offices of MPs and MLAs in various parts of the state, burning of government offices, there is fear that the situation will get out of hand if timely measures are not taken. Overall, while dealing with the issue of Maratha reservation, Chief Minister Shinde has faced a big challenge.