BJP stands with Marathas, but will not agitate for quota, says Chandrakant Patil

Quota issue is State's problem, not Centre’s or PM Modi's: Chandrakant Patil

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its intention to stand with the Maratha community over the quota issue, the party will not to take to the streets to agitate with their flags and symbols in order to avoid giving the matter a “political colour”, BJP State president Chandrakant Patil said on Monday. Speaking in Pune, Mr. Patil, however, said individual BJP leaders and workers were free to join in the protest at their level. The Maratha quota issue, he said, was for the State government to solve and there was little the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi could do about it. Mr. Patil’s remarks were a pointed rebuff to the leaders of Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), who have been exhorting the Central government and the Prime Minister to step in to resolve the thorny issue after the Supreme Court scrapped the Maratha quota law earlier this month.