MVA boycotted quota meet after phone call from Baramati: Bhujbal's veiled barb at Sharad Pawar

BARAMATI: Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday launched a veiled attack on NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, claiming the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi boycotted an all-party meeting on the Maratha quota issue on July 9 after a "phone call from Baramati at 5 PM".

"When social issues come up, it is expected that a senior leader like Sharad Pawar should have come for the meeting and given his inputs. Deliberately boycotting and then giving advice is not right," Bhujbal said while speaking at a rally in Baramati which was addressed by Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar.

MVA leaders didn't turn up at the all-party meeting convened by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on July 9, claiming the opposition was not taken into confidence on the Maratha quota issue.

"Opposition leaders stayed away from the meeting after a phone call from Baramati at 5 pm," Bhujbal claimed.

Notably, Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district is the bastion of veteran politician Sharad Pawar.

Bhujbal said he had asked the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar and NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad to attend the meeting.

"I asked Awhad to get Sharad Pawar too for the meeting. Pawar saheb implemented the reservations given by (former prime minister late) V P Singh, and we are always grateful to him for that," the NCP leader said.

Bhujbal questioned the opposition for allegedly ignoring the interests of the people from Maratha, Dhangar, and OBC communities from Baramati.

"People from Maratha, Mali, and Dhangar OBC communities in Baramati may have voted for Sunetra Pawar or Supriya Sule (in Lok Sabha elections). You can be angry with us, but why leave these communities in the lurch? Isn't your duty to protect their interests?" he asked.

Sule defeated Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, to retain the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency.

The boycott of the all-party meeting led to an uproar in the state legislature with the treasury benches accusing the opposition of deliberately stoking caste tensions for political benefits and not working constructively to resolve the quota issue.

The OBCs have opposed the "Sage Soyre" (blood relatives) notification, whose implementation is demanded by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, wherein relatives of Marathas who have Kunbi certificates will be included in the OBC quota.

The government had called the all-party meeting to discuss the issue.