Descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj meet over Maratha reservation

In a significant development, the two law-maker descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj met in Pune to take forward the demand of reservation for the Maratha community.

The descendants of the legendary Maratha warrior - Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale of Satara and Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje Bhosale of Kolhapur - met in Pune, the cultural capital of Maharashtra.

While Chhatrapati Udayanraje is a BJP Rajya Sabha member, Sambhaji Chhatrapati is a President-nominated Rajya Sabha member.

The Monday meeting of the two 13th descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharashtra is being described as significant as it comes barely a week after a delegation of the Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

“The demand for the reservation to the Maratha community has been pending for long…we met to discuss the issue and talked about how to take it forward,” said Chhatrapati Udayanraje.

“We had a detailed discussion over the issue of Maratha quota and almost on all the major points we are on the same page," said Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati.

The duo demanded that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government should convene a special session of the Maharashtra legislature to discuss the issue.

“The state government lacks the will to find a solution to the reservation issue. If it continues to delay the decision on the demands of the Maratha community, it will lead to violence. The government will be responsible,” said Chhatrapati Udayanraje, adding that it would be very difficult for them to pacify the community.

On his part, Sambhaji Chhatrapati urged the government to seek clarification from the Supreme Court regarding the jobs of those who were selected before the interim stay order on the Maratha reservation in September last year.

Last month, the Supreme Court struck down the 2018 Maharashtra law granting quota to Marathas in admissions to colleges and government jobs, terming it as "unconstitutional", and held there were no exceptional circumstances to breach the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the 1992 Mandal Commission verdict.