http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/athavales-turn-to-bat-for-maratha-reservation/373538/
Athavale's turn to bat for Maratha reservation Express News Service Posted: Oct 15, 2008 at 0218 hrs IST Pune, October 14 After the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), it's now the turn of the Republican Party of India (Athavale) to bat for reservation for the Maratha community. RPI leader and MP Ramdas Athavale on Tuesday came out in open support of the reservation demand of the community. Clearly being targeted are the Maratha votes and at stake is the new Lok Sabha constituency of Shirdi, reserved for the Scheduled Caste category after the delimitation process. While Athavale said he was in favour of reservation for the Maratha community, he added that it should not be at the cost of reservations for other communities. "We support the demand of reservation for the Maratha community as it would go a long way in removing the inferior way in which those currently availing of reservation are seen. Our party would hold a rally in Kolhapur on November 28 to extend our support for the demand," Athavale told reporters at a press conference here. Athavale was elected from the Pandharpur constituency, reserved for the Scheduled Caste, but now Shirdi will be the reserved seat. The Shiv Sena had been raking up the Marathi cause for long and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has been aggressively pursuing the sons-of-the-soil stand for over two years since the party's inception. More and more parties are now jumping onto the bandwagon, but in a restrained way. A few days back NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said that he was in favour of reservation for the Maratha community. Pawar had also added that caution should be shown in this regard and other communities should be taken into confidence before taking a decision. In fact, Athavale is looking at NCP support in Shirdi constituency. "I have urged the NCP to support me in the newly reserved Shirdi constituency," Athavale said. Athavale said it was a good sign that those opposing reservations were now seeking the same, adding there should be separate reservation for the Brahmin and Muslim communities as well. However, Athavale was quick to add that any new reservation should not be at the cost of the existing reservations. He was not in favour of reservation on the basis of economic status of a person. "The reservation system is based on caste and should not be mixed with the economic status of any individual," Athavale said. The RPI leader reiterated the demand for an independent Vidarbha state saying the development of the region would not take place unless it got the status of a separate state. Athavale said that his party would take out a rally in Nagpur on November 25 during the forthcoming Winter Session of state legislature demanding immediate passing of a resolution to grant the status of independent state to Vidarbha. The RPI (A) has also organised a rally for the rights of Dalits and Muslims on November 16 at B J Medical College ground.
