A senior functionary from the Maratha Sewa Sangh (MSS), which is among those organising the massive 'Maratha Kranti Morchas,' told DNA that Raj will fund support for the community which is leaning towards quotas based on economic criteria rather than on caste.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's support for reservations based on economic criteria and his demand for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, to be amended may be aimed at gaining support from the Maratha community. The move may also be aimed at the upper-middle and middle-class voters in urban clusters like Mumbai.
The MNS, which has seen its political fortunes dwindle steadily, has an uphill task on hand in the polls to civic bodies in Mumbai, Thane and Pune next year. Thackeray has demanded a review of the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, which Maratha groups claim is being misused. At a rally in Thane on Sunday, he made a pitch for quotas based on economic criteria rather than caste leading some commentators to believe he is pitching for the Maratha vote.
A senior functionary from the Maratha Sewa Sangh (MSS), which is among those organising the massive 'Maratha Kranti Morchas,' told DNA that Raj will fund support for the community which is leaning towards quotas based on economic criteria rather than on caste.
He also noted that the actual percentage of quotas in the reserved category in Maharashtra was much higher, which led to those from the open category facing tougher competition in a shrunken space.
"The economically backward are not considered in the present Constitutional framework," Kondhare said, stating that such people were doubly disadvantaged. Maharashtra has 52% reservations, including 13% for scheduled castes, 7% for scheduled tribes, 19% for OBCs, 11% for VJNTs and 2% for special backwards.
An MSS leader noted that reservations were being seen as a cure in an age where the role of the government was shrinking in a liberalised economy.
"He is replicating late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray's stance. Instead of sticking to it, the Shiv Sena has diluted their position," said a senior Shiv Sena leader, adding that Raj was trying to occupy that political space.
The Maratha protests seek punishment for culprits who gangraped and murdered a teenage girl at Kopardi in Ahmednagar district, an "end to" what they call "misuse" of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and quotas in jobs and education.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Raj Thackeray")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}