Maharashtra BJP leader warns of ‘Jat-style’ stir

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Maharashtra and its “Dhangar face” Gopichand Padalkar has warned chief minister Eknath Shinde of a protest by the community like the Jat agitation from a few years ago that caused tremors in the country.

Padalkar, who is also a member of the legislative council (MLC), wrote a two-page letter to the CM, asking him to call a meeting over the demands of the Dhangar community. He has also asked that the case, which the Maharashtra government is fighting in the high court, and that the administration’s schemes so far have started to give some relief to the community till the time the issue of reservation doesn’t get resolved should be communicated to the community leaders in the meeting.

The Dhangar (shepherd) community has been for long demanding the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, which will allow it to avail reservation in government jobs and education.

Padalkar has also asked the chief minister to appoint former advocate general and senior counsel Aashutosh Kumbhakoni permanently for the case of the Dhangar reservations being heard in the HC.

The BJP leader, who has frequently raised his voice for the rights of the Dhangar and OBC communities, also asked CM Shinde to formulate a separate law to protect the shepherds, as there have been instances of the members of the community being attacked. He has also reminded the chief minister in the letter to appoint the president of the cooperative society announced for shepherds by the state government for which it has promised to spend Rs 10,000 crore.

Padalkar has also asked the chief minister to instruct the state government and its concerned department to review all the schemes announced and initiated for the Dhangar community. He is of the opinion that “though govt had said that they will have different schemes for the community for which govt was ready to spend Rs 1,000 crore and some 22 schemes were planned but due to lack of funds not a single scheme was implemented, hence review of this is must”.