Maharashtra: This is a three party govt, will discuss, find a solution, says Ajit Pawar on Muslim reservation

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister (NCP) Ajit Pawar on Monday said that it is a government of three parties in the state so he will keep the issue regarding Muslim reservation before the CM and Deputy CM.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister (NCP) Ajit Pawar on Monday said that it is a government of three parties in the state so he will keep the issue regarding Muslim reservation before the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. "Earlier, when the reservation was given, the court had given permission for reservation in education but not in employment. This is the government of three parties. So I will keep this issue before CM and Deputy CM, and we will try to find a solution for it," he said in a press briefing in Pune.

He added that if required they will approach the higher leadership for a decision. Pawar further said that he conveyed a meeting with Minority Affairs Department and also some officials from Waqf Board to discuss aboyt Maulana Azad Board and lands of Waqf Board.

"Me as a Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of the state conveyed a meeting with Minority Affairs Department where Minister for Rural Development Hasan Mushrif, Minister of State for Rural Development Abdul Sattar, and some officials from Waqf Board were present to discuss about Maulana Azad Board and lands of Waqf board. This is because we must think about them also, they are here in Maharashtra and India and I work as per the ideology of legends Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Mahatama Phule," he added. In 2014, the Congress-NCP alliance government awarded five per cent reservation to the Muslim community for educational institutions and government jobs on the basis of their backwardness. However, this reservation was not executed by the subsequent governments.

On Election Commission's hearing over NCP symbol, Ajit Pawar said that he will accept the final decision. "Election Commission will give the final decision...After getting the dates, both sides will be represented before the Election Commission...I will accept the final decision that comes after that," he said.

Ajit Pawar earlier in July approached the Election Commission staking claim to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the party symbol amid the feud between the two factions of the party. On Thursday the Election Commission wrote to both factions of the party accepting that there had been a split in the party. The Commission has set October 6 as the date of the first hearing in the dispute.

In July the Commission had issued a show-cause notice to NCP group led by Sharad Pawar following a petition filed by the Ajit Pawar faction. The petition claimed that Ajit Pawar should be declared NCP president and should beallotted the party's watch symbol as per the provisions of the symbols order, 1968., reports Prafulla Marpakwar. Ajit Pawar had filed the petition before the ECI on June 30, and while he was sworn in as deputy chief minister on July 2, his notice reached the ECI office on July 5.

Ajit Pawar had submitted the petition along with affidavits of MPs, MLAs and MLCs to support his claim On being asked about becoming CM, he refuted saying that there is no truth in this news. "I think only about the development," he added. (ANI)

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