Seeking 75pc quota limit is intellectual bankruptcy, says Ambedkar attacking Sharad Pawar

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar on Friday slammed NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar for seeking the raising of the quota cap in Maharashtra to 75 per cent. He said the demand was a sign of Pawar's "intellectual bankruptcy" and asked when quota benefits will be extended to the cooperative sector, which is dominated by leaders from the undivided Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.

"This is intellectual bankruptcy. Reservation is not a development issue. It is a representative one," Ambedkar told PTI Video. Speaking in Sangli, Pawar had asked why Maharashtra cannot have 75 per cent reservation when Tamil Nadu is allowed to keep the limit at 78 per cent in consideration of various communities in the southern state.

Ambedkar said seeking 75 per cent reservation is akin to running away from the responsibility to provide citizens secure lives. Speaking about Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, the VBA chief said the former must contest elections or else no one will trust Maratha leaders anymore.


"Earlier it was said Jarange was acting at the behest of (Deputy Chief Minister Devendra) Fadvanis. Later it was said he was acting at the behest of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Now it is being said he is acting at the behest of Sharad Pawar. If he wants to get out of this image, then he must act on his announcements and contest polls," Ambedkar said.