‘Wake up Marathas’ call by Parth Pawar shakes up Maha political circles (Ld)

Mumbai, Oct 1 : The fiery but unpredictable Parth Pawar – grand-nephew of Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar – on Thursday without warning stirred up Maharashtra politics by giving a ‘wake-up’ call to the Maratha community to fight for their rights.

Known to have an independent mind, Parth, who is the 30-year-old son of state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, called upon the agitated and agitating Marathas to ensure they get justice by way of reservations.

Raking up the issue of a Maratha boy, Vivek K. Rahade – who allegedly died by suicide demanding quotas for the community in jobs and eduation – Parth warned: “The flame that Vivek has ignited in our minds can set the whole system ablaze.”

Stating he was ‘devastated’ to hear of Vivek’s death, Parth added before “a chain reaction of such unfortunate incidents starts, Maratha leaders have to wake up and fight for this cause”.

“The future of an entire generation is at stake. Requesting Maharashtra government to step in to solve the crisis,” Parth urged, and announced his intention to move the Supreme Court by filing an intervenor application in the pending Maratha reservations matter cases.

“I am ready to carry the burning torch of Maratha agitation in my heart and knock the doors of justice for Vivek and millions of other helpless ‘Viveks’. Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra,” assured Parth to the Maratha youth.

In a suicide note, Beed student Vivek Rahade said that he had appeared for the NEET exams to pursue the medical stream, but since the Maratha quotas were recently stayed and as his family could ill-afford education in private medical colleges, he was “ending his life”.

He further said that after his death, the Centre and state government may take note of the plight of Maratha youth and his sacrifice would be worthwhile. Marathas account for nearly 33 per cent of the state’s population of 11.50 crore.

NCP state President Jayant Patil, NCP MP Supriya Sule, Congress Minister Amit Deshmukh sought to downplay Parth’s comments saying he was entitled to express his opinion which was in tune with the stand of the state government also.

Parth’s sympathy for the Maratha boy came at a time when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress along with opposition Bharatiya Janata Party have moved the apex court to get the stay on Maratha reservations vacated after it was referred to a larger bench on September 9.

This is not the first time that Parth has created ripples in state politics with his comments or stand on certain issues.

In August, he shocked the MVA and the Pawar clan by seeking a CBI probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and also hailed the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

It invited a public snub from Pawar senior who dismissed him as “immature” and the party did not give much importance to his statements.

Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.