Cracks show up in BJP over Marathi issue

The issue of sons-of-the-soil has split the Mumbai BJP unit. While the city leadership does not think blowing the Marathi trumpet will bring in rich political benefits, many corporators and leaders believe otherwise.

The divide was evident at Monday's general body meeting. Even as BJP city chief Gopal Shetty directed party corporator Vishwanath Mhaske to withdraw a notice of motion demanding 70% reservation for Marathis in BMC jobs, former corporator and BJP leader Arvind Parmar made an appearance at the civic headquarters and also issued a statement supporting the proposal.

The south Mumbai Gujarati leader stated that he found nothing wrong with the proposal. “Many migrate to Mumbai to earn a living. The locals are deprived of job opportunities,” he said.

While the party leadership in the BMC ensured that Mhaske did not turn up at the general body meeting and the notice of motion was not discussed, Parmar told newspersons that the corporators should have been allowed to table the motion. “There should have been a discussion on the issue. It is a relevant matter. Though I am a Gujarati, I have always supported the Marathi cause.”

When asked on a possibility of disciplinary action against him, Parmar said that he did what he believed in. Insiders said that the leader had the backing of the faction in the city unit, which was opposed to Shetty’s leadership. Shetty was not available for comment.