Quota must be on economic basis, not caste lines, says Raj Thackeray

Echoing the Centre's probable consideration of giving reservation on the basis of economic backwardness, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday said reservation should be on economic basis and not along caste lines. He held the late former Prime Minister V P Singh, responsible for unleashing “quota politics” on the country.

Addressing an MNS rally at Pune, Thackeray targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as well as opposition parties for indulging in vote bank politics. “If 80-90 per cent of local students in the state succeed in getting jobs, Maharashtra will have no need for reservation. Today, it is unfortunate that the state is being bitterly divided along caste lines. After one caste gains reservations, others rear their heads and demand quotas as well,” he said.

Terming the death of Kakasaheb Shinde, the Maratha activist who died after plunging into Godavari river, as 'unfortunate' and saying he was 'forced to commit suicide', Thackeray appealed to the agitators to stop committing such acts. He stated it would not help them gain reservation. Thackeray said as government jobs were declining and there was no reservation in the private sector, how did the state propose to fulfil its promise of job quotas to the Marathas given that it was the government’s policy to encourage the private sector?.

“Where is the BJP leading the

state today? Have they decided to transform Maharashtra into an Uttar Pradesh or a Bihar or a Jharkhand? Maharashtra has always remained ahead of other regions in ideas, as well as industrial enterprise. Despite so many investments in the state, how is it that people from Maharashtra are bereft of jobs?” he questioned. “This government is only busy planning HinduMuslim riots to effect any development,” he alleged.

With a view to revive his sagging political fortunes, Thackeray handpicked a new team of MNS officebearers for Pune city.