The BJP-led Mahayuti government has appointed Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, minister of water resources (Godavari & Krishna Valley), as the chairman of the cabinet committee on Maratha community issues. The committee was earlier headed by senior BJP leader Chandrakant Patil, who is minister for higher and technical education. Vikhe-Patil was a member in the earlier panel.
Interestingly, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has nominated sports minister Manikrao Kokate as a member of the committee. Kokate’s recent statements on farmers forced the party to divest him of the agriculture department. Notably, 80% of the Maratha community are farmers.
Chandrakant Patil was appointed chairman of the committee during the Mahayuti government headed by Eknath Shinde. He headed the panel from 2014-19 during the alliance government of BJP and unified Shiv Sena. His removal now is being viewed as a major development owing to his seniority and expertise.
However, Patil has been retained as a member in the revised panel, which has been expanded to accommodate four new members – from the NCP, Kokate, Makrand Jadhav and Babasaheb Patil; and Shivendra Raje Bhosale from the BJP. The unchanged members are Girish Mahajan, Ashish Shelar from the BJP and Shiv Sena ministers Dada Bhuse, Uday Samant and Shambhuraj Desai.
Vikhe-Patil, who joined the BJP before the 2019 state assembly elections, will coordinate with old guards such as Chandrakant Patil, Shelar and Mahajan. His soft nature and the previous Congress background may help him break the ice, BJP insiders said.
The committee has been entrusted with supervising the state initiatives for the Maratha community, along with a regular follow-up on the legal issues concerning reservation to the community from the OBC category. The committee coordinates with the state counsels representing the state side in court matters. It also coordinates with the Justice (retd) Sandeep Shinde committee dealing with the OBC certificates, holding discussions with the various fronts fighting for the reservation.
