Shinde eyeing Maratha community
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is seeking to emerge as a “Maratha leader” by resolving the long pending reservation demand by the community. Recently, pro-Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil ended his indefinite fast–for the second time–after the government asked for time till January 2 to meet the demand. According to sources, Shinde actively handled the agitation by Patil despite “non-cooperation” by his two deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. Last month, while addressing a Dusshera rally, Shinde said he comes from the Maratha community and is committed to resolving the reservations issue. He also vowed before the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji to fulfil the demand. If Shinde manages to resolve this issue, he might emerge as a “Maratha hero”.
Nitish to visit Mumbai, raise caste survey issue
After conducting a caste survey in his state, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wants other states to hold a similar exercise. Kumar will likely be in Mumbai on January 7 to address a rally and speak about the caste survey. The JD(U) has been demanding a caste survey in Maharashtra on the line of Bihar. The party’s cadre in Maharashtra, who want Kumar to be declared the Opposition’s prime minister face for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, is working hard to make this rally successful. They are trying to pull North Indians —prominently from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Is Maha government promoting privatisation?
The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government recently announced the termination of private agencies for the hiring of contractual workers to create more government jobs and end the contractual system of recruitment. However, the same nine hiring agencies have been given a nine-month contract period extension. According to the Opposition, the move by the government is, on the one hand, showing people that they are working to end privatisation while, on the other hand, continuing with the same policy silently. Opposition alleged that the government is ending the government jobs and promoting privatisation.
Sudhir Suryawanshi
Our correspondent in Maharashtra
suryawanshi.sudhir@gmail.com