Mumbai: Congress has targeted the PM Narendra Modi on the Maratha reservation issue. The MPCC spokesman Sachin Sawant claimed Modi had time to meet Kangana Renaut, Priyanka Chopra and other Bollywood stars but not for Chhatrapati Shivaji’s direct descendant Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje on the politically crucial Maratha quota issue.
‘’Did all these stars meet the PM with people's people? He did not have time to meet Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje who was asking for a meeting to discuss Maratha reservation issue. Not giving time to Sambhaji Raje is an insult to Maharashtra,’’ said Sawant.
Sawant asked whether Modi and the BJP remember Chhatrapati only during elections. Sawant’s statement came days after Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje said despite sending four letters the PM has not yet given him appointment to discuss the Maratha quota issue. Further, Sawant’s move to target Modi came close on the heels of a statement by state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil that PM believes Maratha reservation is a state issue.
Attacking the BJP on the Maratha reservation issue, Sawant said, "We have no objection with whom Modi meets, but Maharashtra would never like his decision to not to give time to Sambhaji Raje who is not only Chhatrapati's descendant but the party MP who wanted the problems of the Maratha community to be heard by the Prime Minister himself.’’
Sawant said Patil’s statement is just like rubbing salt on the wounds of the protesters who have made history by holding 58 rallies for Maratha reservation. ‘’It is insulting as well for the families of the martyrs who lost their dear ones for the cause of Maratha reservation to know that Modi knows more about Bollywood than the struggle of the Maratha community,’’ he claimed.
