Nagpur: Senior Congress MLA Nana Patole on Sunday accused BJP-led govt in Maharashtra of engineering the Maratha-OBC reservation standoff, as activist Manoj Jarange plans to head to Mumbai again over the demand for Maratha quota.“The govt’s objective has been to pit the Maratha and OBC communities against each other, and that is exactly what is happening. The govt itself was behind this fight but now finds itself in trouble since the issue has escalated beyond its control,” Patole said.He asked why BJP has not followed through on promises despite being in power for over a decade in Maharashtra. “Why hasn’t the promise that was made in 2014 on Maratha reservation been fulfilled? Why is OBC reservation being reduced? BJP govt in Maharashtra and central govt are working to harm both communities,” he said.Patole said the party had also raised the demand for a caste census with Governor on Saturday. “We met the governor and made him aware of how the Central govt has cheated OBC community on caste-based census data. If a caste census is held for OBCs, I believe the reservation issue could be resolved fully, and these reservation disputes could end,” he said and alleged that the govt does not want the OBCs to get their rightful share of reservation.
