Maratha reservation stir: Uddhav Thackeray calls for calm, Sena MLAs to meet Fadnavis

Mumbai: Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray on Monday called for an urgent and definite solution to the reservation demands made by the Maratha community in Maharashtra. Calling for calm, he also said that Sena MLAs will meet state CM Devendra Fadnavis.

The agitation by the community rocked Maharashtra for most parts of last week with rampant incidents of violence, arson and vandalism. In many places, police personnel had to resort to lathi charge and there were injuries reported from both sides. Thackeray took to Twitter and urged that calm be maintained. "Maratha society should give up its aggressiveness and should not be violent anywhere," he urged. "All the MLAs of Shiv Sena will meet Chief Minister Devendra Fanadvis today. Considering all the demands of the community, let's take a firm decision about it."

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Previously, Sena has taken a stringent view of how the state government has handled the situation and had even advised Fadnavis to temporarily step down if he was unable to maintain law and order. In an editorial in Saamna, the Sena moutpiece, PM Modi too was accused of being suspiciously silent on the matter. "Why can't CM Fadnavis go to Delhi, meet the Prime Minister and find a solution to the Maratha reservation issue. PM Modi is often not in Delhi and he is not interested in matters related to the state and the country. To crush protests has become the policy of the government," read the editorial.

Once firm friends, relations have strained dramatically between Sena and BJP, and many feel Thackeray is trying to gain pilitical mileage from the Maratha issue.

People from the Maratha community have been demanding reservation in government jobs and in the education sector. An influential community, they form around 30 per cent of the state's population and want 16 per cent reservation.