Rift among communities over quota a concern, more dialogue needed with stakeholders: Sharad Pawar

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said he recently shared his feedback on the reservation issue with CM Eknath Shinde who appeared “favourable” to a dialogue with the stakeholders. File pic

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday expressed concerns over the "rift" among communities on the issue of reservation and said the Maharashtra government should have more dialogue with stakeholders, news agency PTI reported.

The 83-year-old politician was speaking to reporters following a book release event at a university in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

"The dialogue with stakeholders over quota should have taken place. The Chief Minister (CM) talks with one set of people, while others in the government hold talks with different groups. This creates misunderstanding," he said.

Pawar said he recently shared his feedback with CM Eknath Shinde who appeared "favourable" to a dialogue.

"The government should invite Maratha activist Manoj Jarange, minister Chhagan Bhujbal and others committed to OBC (other backward classes) reservation for talks," he said.

Jarange has been demanding the implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis - who get quota benefits as OBCs - as ‘sage soyare (blood relatives)' of Marathas and accordingly provide reservation to the community under the same category. However, members of the OBC community, including Bhujbal, have stressed that their quota should not be diluted.

"Jarange further said that reservation should also be given to Lingayats, Muslims and the Dhangar (shepherd) community. The process for talks over quota in the right direction seems to have begun. If this is done, there will be no bitterness in society," Pawar said.

Speaking about the issue of seat-sharing among the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance (comprising his party, Shiv Sena (Uddav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Congress) ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls, Pawar said the allies have suggested a few names for the discussion.

It has been agreed that the decision over seat-sharing will be taken unanimously, he said.

"I have also said that the Left parties which did not demand a single seat in the last Lok Sabha elections should also be given a seat share in the upcoming Assembly polls. The seat-sharing talks will take place after the current session of Parliament," said Pawar.

He also claimed that the government announced the ‘Ladki Bahin' and ‘Ladka Bhau' schemes just because the Assembly polls are around the corner. "These schemes may end up after one or two instalments," stated Pawar and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make his stand clear on such schemes.

"The amount we spend on boosting infrastructure is fine. But Modi earlier said that such schemes would not strengthen the economy. Now, he should clear his stand over the impact of these schemes," the former Maharashtra CM said.

Under the ‘Ladka Bhau' programme, job-seekers who have cleared Class 12 will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 6,000, while diploma holders will get Rs 8,000. The state will give Rs 10,000 to those with a bachelor's degree. Women are slated to receive Rs 1,500 per month under the Ladki Bahin scheme.

(With PTI inputs)