Maratha quota stir: Devendra Fadnavis should resign as Maharashtra home minister, says Supriya Sule

Supriya Sule. File Pic/PTI

Maratha quota stir: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule on Monday demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the Maratha quota violence in parts of the state, reported the PTI.

According to the news agency, the agitation took a violent turn earlier in the day when the house of an NCP MLA was torched. In separate incidents, protesters set the first floor of a municipal council building on fire and vandalised it in Beed district. The office of BJP MLA Prashant Bamb was vandalised in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, according to police.

IN PHOTOS: NCP MLA`s house in Beed torched amid protest for Maratha quota demand

11 months agoPHOTO GALLERY

Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Supriya Sule said, "Maharashtra home minister (Devendra Fadnavis) should resign. Look at the violence. What is happening in the state? A house of an MLA was set ablaze. A Panchayat Samiti office was also torched. Is anyone looking into these incidents (to uphold law and order)," she asked, according to the PTI.

The Lok Sabha member criticised Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's decision to set up a committee of experts against the backdrop of protests by the Maratha community.

"This (announcement by Shinde) came after 40 days (when the ultimatum to grant quota was initially given by quota activist Manoj Jarange). Doesn't it amount to cheating the people from all the communities including Jarange? What is the point in appointing one committee after another? she questioned, the PTI reported on Monday.

CM Eknath Shinde has said a three-member committee of experts will be set up to advise the state government on submission of a proposed curative petition in the Supreme Court in connection with the Maratha quota issue.

Meanwhile, the Maratha reservation Cabinet subcommittee meeting was held at Sahyadri State Guest House in Mumbai on Monday.

In the meeting, CM Shinde, BJP ministers Chandrakant Dada Patil, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Minister Shambhuraj Desai, Dada Bhuse from Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction, Minister Dilip Walse Patil from Nationalist Congress (Ajit Pawar faction) and others were present.

The meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee was held discuss the way forward in finding a solution to providing reservation to the Maratha community, sources said.

(with PTI inputs)