Maratha Reservation: Present government did not use Marathas as vote-bank, Bombay High Court told

Maratha Reservation: Present government did not use Marathas as vote-bank, Bombay High Court told

Staff ReporterUpdated: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 01:31 AM IST
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Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday claimed that its decision to grant 16 per cent reservation to Maratha community was for the progress and betterment of the community, which constitutes the majority in state population. The government further told the Bombay High Court that the Marathas, till 2014, were only seen as a vote-bank.

The division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre has informed that the Marathas were used as votebanks by the politicians and political parties, whom the community voted.

The submissions were made by senior counsel Anil Sakhre, who argued on behalf of the government to justify its decision for granting 16 per cent quota to Marathas in government jobs and education.”Usually, voters of a constituency end up voting a candidate of their caste or religion. And the population of Marathas is highest in the state. This is the only reason why we see more number of Marathas in the field of politics,” Sakhre submitted.

“Thus the allegation that only Marathas are given priority in politics is unfounded. I would say that the leaders, whom this community voted, used the Marathas as a vote bank. Such leaders did their own good and neglected this community,” Sakhre claimed. Sakhre further said, “It is only the present government which did not use the Marathas as a vote bank and granted reservation to the community for its welfare.”

The submissions were advanced before the bench of Justice More, which is hearing final arguments in a bunch of petitions challenging the quota for Marathas. During the course of the hearing, Sakhre told the judges that the government did not interfere with the working of the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC).

“We have not interfered in the commission’s functioning. The MSBCC conducted its work through the 11 expert members,” Sakhre told the judges.  “The experts applied their minds individually as well as collectively. They discussed the data obtained through survey and then finally gave a unanimous conclusion,” Sakhre submitted. The bench will continue hearing the matter on Thursday.

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