Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Amid protests demanding reservation for Marathas, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday told the Centre to remove the 50% cap on reservation in the country and raise it by 15-16% to accommodate more communities.
Addressing a news conference at Jalgaon, Mr. Pawar said, “Some people say that making more people (communities) beneficiaries of the OBC (other backward class) quota is injustice to the poor people of the (existing) OBC quota. This cannot be ignored. The option is to make amendments by the Centre in Parliament to the existing 50% cap and add 15-16% to it.” He added that there should be no differences between OBC and other communities.
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In May 2021, the Supreme Court had held Maratha reservation to be unconstitutional as it is violative of the apex court orders which say that reservation in any State should not exceed 50%.
From August 29, when a Maratha activist Manoj Jarange, went on a hunger strike demanding reservation for the Maratha community in government jobs and education at Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna. On September 1, police used baton-charge and fired teargas shells to disperse a violent mob at the village on Dhule-Solapur road in Ambad tehsil, around 75 km from Aurangabad.
On Bharat row
The NCP chief on Tuesday reacted sharply to the G-20 dinner invites that refer to the President as President of Bharat and not President of India. He said, “No one has the right to change the country’s name. I don’t understand why the ruling party is perturbed over a name…”
He said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called a meeting of all Opposition party heads of the INDIA (Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance) on September 6 and said, “There will be deliberation on this in the meeting, but no one has the right to change the name (of the country). No one can change the name.”
The G-20 Summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. Several heads of state from across the world will attend the event.