Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday that the state government had not taken any decision on reservation for Muslims, PTI reported.
The statement came days after Nationalist Congress Party leader and state Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik alleged that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra has proposed to extend 5% reservation to Muslims in educational institutes. He told the Maharashtra Legislative Council that a legislation will be passed soon in this regard.
“No proposal has come to me regarding Muslim reservation,” Thackeray told reporters at the Vidhan Bhawan in Mumbai. “We will check its validity once it comes to us. We have not taken any decision yet on it. I also urge those who are creating ruckus on the issue to save your energy to use it when the issue comes up for discussion.”
He added: “When the issue comes up before the government, we will check the legal validity and take a decision. My stand, as well as that of Shiv Sena, will be decided when the issue comes before us.”
The Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP are ruling Maharashtra in an alliance. Reservation for Muslims was mentioned in the manifestos of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party.
Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat said that while it was his party’s promise to provide reservation to Muslims, the matter had not yet come up. “We [Cong-NCP combine] had given reservation to Muslims in the past,” Thorat said. “It did not move ahead in the last five years, but it is our commitment. It is part of the manifesto of the Congress and NCP. Hence, we want to give it.”
“But it is true that there has been no discussion on it,” he said, adding that the matter will be discussed.
Maharashtra NCP chief and Cabinet minister Jayant Patil also agreed. “The chief minister is right. The issue hasn’t yet come up in front of the government,” Patil said, according to News18. “All the three parties will sit together and take a call on it.”
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