NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday spoke on the Maratha reservation, saying he has asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to call an all-party meeting on the issue. "We will also remain present, our stand will be cooperative. Leaders from OBC should also be invited and we should try to find a solution on this issue unanimously," Pawar said.
"The central government has the right to give reservations above 50%. Therefore if it takes a positive step towards this issue, we will co-operate with them," he added.
Last month, the Shinde government had organised an all-party meeting to discuss the Maratha reservation issue. However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders did not attend it.
Pawar's comment comes just days after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray alleged that the NCP chief and Uddhav Thackeray were trying to use the Maratha quota issue to trigger riots ahead of the state assembly elections, especially in the Marathwada region.
The MNS chief claimed Uddhav and Pawar were using the Manoj Jarange-led quota movement as a shield for caste politics. "Using his agitation as a shield, people like Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray are doing politics in Marathwada," Raj Thackeray said on the concluding day of his Marathwada tour.
The MNS chief claimed the (Beed) district Shiv Sena (UBT) president raised casteist slogans to show his allegiance to Jarange.
In the Marathwada region, the epicentre of the Maratha quota stir, the BJP failed to win even a single Lok Sabha seat. That voting in Lok Sabha for the Opposition was not because of people's love for the opposition parties, he said. "They (Uddhav and Sharad Pawar) think a similar trick should be played in upcoming assembly elections," Raj Thackeray claimed.
The MNS chief slammed Sharad Pawar for raising the potential of Manipur-like unrest in Maharashtra. "These people should worry that the situation in the state should not be like Manipur. You (people) will realise what runs in their minds. Their (Uddhav and Pawar's) efforts are to engineer riots, especially in the Marathwada in the three-and-a-half months (assembly elections are due in October)," Raj Thackeray claimed.
Instead of ensuring caste politics is not played in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar is aiding it, he alleged. According to Raj Thackeray, hatred among castes percolated in Maharashtra after Sharad Pawar founded the Nationalist Congress Party (in 1999).
The MNS chief alleged Sharad Pawar didn't use his good relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve the quota impasse in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray also didn't bat for the Maratha reservation when Shiv Sena (undivided), led by him, was in alliance with BJP from 2014 to 2019, he said.
(With inputs from PTI)