How long will you continue to spread hatred for Fadnavis?

Maratha reservation once again took to centre stage and people grabbed it as an opportunity to target former chief minister and the incumbent deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis with their venomous and derogatory criticism. This was expected as the Opposition always seems to be intimidated by Fadnavis and hence, they leave no stone unturned to target him in one way or the other.

Till 2014, the authority to exercise power and manage the state’s economy rested in the hands of a selected few. But Fadnavis almost shattered these equations after 2014. From 2014 to 2019, Fadnavis disrupted all the communal equations of interest that were being carefully nurtured. In those days, many believed that ‘Fadnavis’ will not be able to leave his mark in politics’.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi entrusted faith in Fadnavis and gave him the responsibility of being the chief minister of Maharashtra. And to justify this belief, Fadnavis made all efforts to undertake developmental projects like Metro, Samriddhi Mahamarg, Jalyukta Shivar, Marathwada Water Grid and others across different parts and reassured Maharashtra’s bright future. Envious, certain forces began spreading unrest and creating disturbance during his 5-year tenure as the chief minister. But Fadnavis endured.

During 2019 Assembly elections, people of Maharashtra gave a clear mandate that Shri. Fadnavis should once again become the chief minister. The moment results were declared, Uddhav Thackeray sprung into action to fulfil his long due ambition of becoming the chief minister. He did not mind betraying his old ally – the Bharatiya Janata Party and Fadnavis. At that time, the senior leaders of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party also backed Uddhav Thackeray to betray Fadnavis, as they did not want Fadnavis to again become the chief minister under any circumstance. Senior leader Sharad Pawar also persuaded the Congress leadership and forced them to support Uddhav Thackeray. But Fadnavis foiled Pawar Saheb’s conspiracy in June 2022.

Fadnavis has always exposed the wrongdoers in politics which is why he faces slander.

In fact, Maratha reservation had been in news even before Fadnavis became the chief minister in 2014. It must be noted that from 1999 to 2014, Congress and the NCP were in power in Maharashtra. There was a demand for Maratha reservation even during this 15-years tenure. But neither the Congress nor the NCP leadership took this demand seriously.

After the Congress-NCP suffered defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, they hastily announced reservation for the Maratha community in July 2014. But the High Court cancelled this reservation. Later, after coming to power, Fadnavis carried out a detailed study to find out why the court cancelled this reservation and after abiding by the statutory procedures, he got it reinstated.

Even the High Court upheld this reservation as valid. During the first phase of hearing in the Supreme Court, the court refused to stay the reservation. It was only during the two-and-a-half-year period when Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister until he stepped down from this position that will be referred to as the worst period for Maratha reservation. Reason – Uddhav Thackeray-Sharad Pawar’s government remained lackadaisical when the matter was being heard in the Supreme Court. As a result, the Supreme Court cancelled the reservation. In its final verdict, the apex court stated, ‘More than 50 per cent reservation can be given in exceptional circumstances. But Maharashtra government (i.e., the Uddhav Thackeray-Sharad Pawar government that was in power at that time) could not prove this exceptionalcircumstance. During the last several hearings, Maharashtra government was also not able to show that the Maratha community is like the other marginalized communities that live in remote areas.’ Isn’t this sufficient to prove that Fadnavis was right in giving reservation whereas the Thackeray- Pawar government failed to present the matter strongly in the court?

Also, when the Maratha reservation was being heard, Uddhav Thackeray-Sharad Pawar government kept changing lawyers. Even worse, the translated report was not submitted to the Supreme Court. It may be recalled that Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje wrote a letter to the then Thackeray government asking why they had changed the lawyer. In this letter, Sambhajiraje had also pointed out that the advocate representing the state government was absent during the Supreme Court’s hearing. He had also warned the then chief minister of dire consequences if the government failed to pay serious attention to the reservation issue. And hence it will not be an exaggeration if I will say that Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar were only responsible for the Maratha reservation to get delayed.

 

What Fadnavis did for the Maratha community?

 

 Devendra Fadnavis established the Annasaheb Patil Economic

·       Development Corporation when he was the chief minister. Through this corporation, business loans are provided to the Maratha youth, the interest for which is paid by the corporation, i.e., the state government. Nearly 70,375 youth have been benefitted through this scheme and an amount of Rs 5,220 crore has been disbursed to them by way of loan.

·       Why weren’t interest free loans given to the Maratha community

·       earlier? Prior to this, i.e., from 1999 to 2014 Pawar Saheb was in power in the state but still not a penny was given to the Maratha youth to undertake their business.

·       Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Sarathi Scholarship Scheme: Nearly 23,224 students have been paid scholarships worth Rs 31 crore.

·       Scholarships were provided to students appearing the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations under the Sarathi Scholarship scheme but Uddhav Thackeray-Sharad Pawar’s government had stalled the Sarathi Scholarship scheme.

·       It was Devendra Fadnavis who gave scholarship of Rs 60 lakh to students aspiring to travel abroad to pursue MS and Rs. 1.60 crore to those pursuing Ph.D. from abroad. Nearly 75 students from Maratha community have received this scholarship. Did Pawar Saheb or Uddhav Thackeray ever come up with schemes like these for the benefit of the Maratha youth?

It is a set pattern – whenever the topic of reservation comes up, some groups will deliberately pin Fadnavis with their atrocious criticisms and hence this article to factually apprise them. Politicizing issues is absolutely fine to a certain extent. But now, this congregation seems to have developed personal hatred against Fadnavis and hence they are trying to trap him by spreading false narratives. These efforts will not succeed as the common Maratha is aware who their real champion is.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India -06 November. 2023)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson