Ignored for ministerial post as I am from Maratha community: NCP MLA
Speaking to reporters in Beed on Sunday, the four-time MLA from Majalgaon also claimed Marathas have been the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) strength in Beed district, but they are ignored when it comes to giving a cabinet or guardian minister post to a member from the community.
He was responding to a question on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar on Friday saying party leader and former minister Dhananjay Munde will be given an "opportunity" if he is absolved in an "inquiry" against him.
Pawar was apparently referring to the last year's Beed sarpanch murder case following which Munde, the MLA from Parli in Beed, had to quit the Devendra Fadnavis government in March this year.
Notably, Marathas, under the leadership of activist Manoj Jarange, have been agitating for reservation in government jobs and education under the Other Backwards Classes (OBC) quota.
Asked about the speculation of Munde's return to the cabinet, Solanke claimed, "Leaders like (NCP-SP chief) Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar have always given priority to the OBC community in Beed district. The Maratha community has been an NCP supporter in Beed. But OBCs and backward communities were given preference in Beed district in the past 45 years."
This is due to the party's policy of following the ideology of (social reformers) Jyotirao Phule, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj and BR Ambedkar, he said.
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