Sharad Pawar can get Marathas reservations if he wants to: Chhava

MUMBAI: Maratha organisation Chhava Yuvak Sanghatana today criticised NCP chief and Union Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar for dithering on the demand of reservations for the community.

"If Sharad Pawar wishes, he can take the decision for the Maratha community in a day," the organisation's president Babasaheb Patil said here.

Pawar had recently said that quotas should cover not only the Marathas (who are politically dominant), but even the Brahmins, based on economic circumstances.

Patil also criticised other Maratha political leaders for ignoring the community. "Most of the political leaders, some of whom went on to become Chief Ministers and senior ministers, never paid any attention to the community but only served themselves," he said.

"Even NCP MLC Vinayak Mete, a self-proclaimed leader of the Maratha community, is misleading the people on the issue," he said.

About 85 per cent of the community members were underdeveloped financially, he claimed.

Patil also said that the organisation would stage agitation if reservations were not granted, but wait till the committee headed by state industries minister Narayan Rane, which is examining the issue, submitted its report.