Congress minister in Maharashtra Aslam Sheikh has today revealed that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government is preparing to introduce reservations for Muslims in the state. According to the sources, a formal statement on the same may be soon made by the government.
Maharashtra Minister and Congress leader Aslam Sheikh: Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to soon bring Muslim reservation as it was a part of MVA’s common minimum programme
— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2020
Maharashtra Minister and Congress leader Aslam Sheikh claimed that the coalition government in Maharashtra, formed between Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, had in their minimum common programme to grant reservations to Muslims in Maharashtra, a state in which the reservations have already breached the 70 per cent mark.
Soon after Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray joined hands with NCP and Congress, he was accused of shunning nationalism and embracing Congress version of “secularism”. The Preamble of the CMP said that the alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP are committed to upholding the “secular values” of the Constitution. It also says that on contentious issues that affect either the “secular fabric of the nation”, the three parties will take a “joint view” after holding consultations.
The politics in Maharashtra has been embroiled in drama after the BJP emerged as single-largest party but had a fallout with its pre-poll alliance partner Shiv Sena after they did not agree to their demands, primarily of having a rotational chief ministerial position. The Shiv Sena then ditched its long-time ally and formed an unholy nexus with ideological rivals- NCP and Congress to grab the Chief ministerial post. However, in doing so, it comprised on the ideals it stood for.
Interestingly, in 2018, it was the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra ruled out the earlier ordinance passed by previous NCP-Congress government granting a 5 per cent reservations for Muslims on the grounds of Supreme Court and High Court rulings barring reservations based on religion. The Bombay high court had allowed reservation in educational institutions for Muslims but dismissed reservations in jobs in 2014.
