Maharashtra Revenue Minister and Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat on Monday said his party and ministerial colleague Vijay Wadettiwar should exercise restraint and have patience, and expressed confidence that the latter will definitely get bigger responsibilities in future.
Thorat was responding to questions over Wadettiwar's comments that he did not get the revenue portfolio because he belongs to the OBC (Other Backward Classes) community.
Wadettiwar currently holds charge of the Relief and Rehabilitation, Disaster Management, and Bahujan Vikas (OBC) Welfare departments.
During an OBC convention at Lonavla in neighbouring Pune district on Sunday, Wadettiwar said he was the leader of opposition in the previous state Assembly and should have got a "bigger portfolio" now.
"I was ignored for the revenue portfolio since I belong to the OBC community," he claimed.
Talking to reporters here on Monday, Thorat, who is the state legislature party leader, said Wadettiwar's comments have been misconstrued.
"May be, he wanted to say something else. But, he should have patience and exercise restraint. He is sure to get bigger responsibilities in future," he said.
The Congress joined hands with the Shiv Sena and NCP to form government in the state in 2019 after the Sena fell out with the BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.
Notably, the Maharashtra BJP unit on Saturday held protests across the state to press for its demand of restoring reservation for the OBCs in local governing bodies.
In 2019, the then BJP-Shiv Sena government had allotted political reservation to OBCs in local governing bodies, but in March this year, the Supreme Court read it down.
The BJP has alleged that the case was lost only because of the inaction of the present three-party government in the state.
