Maratha quota: Remove Chavan as subcommittee chief, says Mete

Shiv Sangram Party leader Vinayak Mete on Saturday sought the removal of Congress minister Ashok Chavan as the head of Maharashtra government's subcommittee on Maratha reservation.

Mete, speaking to reporters in Pune, said Chavan was not serious about winning the Maratha quota case in the Supreme Court.

The SC had, on July 15, said it would commence from July 27 day-to-day hearing through video-conferencing on a batch of pleas challenging the Maharashtra law granting reservations in jobs and education to the Maratha community.

"The BJP-Shiv Sena government had offered reservations to the Maratha community. However, the new government under Shiv Sena is not serious about the issue," Mete said.

"Ashok Chavan, who heads the cabinet subcommittee on Maratha reservation, does not seem serious about winning the case. He should be removed," Mete claimed.

Mete said he would stage a one-day protest in front of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the location depending on the latter's scheduled visit to Nashik on Sunday, or later in Pune.

Hitting back, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said Mete's allegations appear to be part of a conspiracy.

"It appears to me that some conspiracy is being hatched to sabotage the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court.

There are some people with a hidden agenda to derail ongoing proceedings by distracting the Maratha community," Sawant claimed.

He said Chavan was diligently following up the case as head of the subcommittee.

Sawant said Mete, an ally of the BJP, never uttered a word when the previous government under Devendra Fadnavis took three years to submit an affidavit in Bombay High Court on the issue. 

(image from PTI)