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Mumbai: BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar has hit back at Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut for claiming that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra is “a government of Bahujans”.
“In your Pune rally, you have claimed that the government in Maharashtra is a government of Bahujan Samaj. Most probably in your opinion we, the people of Bahujan Samaj too are sycophants like you,” Padalkar said.
It may be recalled that addressing a political rally organised in Pune, Raut had said, “I read a statement of (BJP leader) Raosaheb Danve that he wants to see a Brahmin chief minister in Maharashtra. Why are you dividing the state into castes and classes? The state belongs to the Bahujan samaj (masses)…the state belongs to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, to Shahu- Phule- Ambedkar and to Balasaheb Thackeray who united the Marathi manoos”.
Listing various atrocities faced by the Bahujan people, Padalkar said, “were not those 135 ST employees who committed suicide Bahujans? Over 1,000 farmers have ended life in the last two years. What about them? You betrayed the farmer when his crop needed electricity. Were those farmers not Bahujans?
“Due to the adamant stance of the well-established, the MVA government, OBC and many other employees were deprived of promotions. Were they not Bahujans,” Padalkar questioned.
The BJP MLC also raked up the issue of reservation for Dhangars. “So far, the government has not held even a single meeting on the issue of reservations for Dhangars. Also, the government is yet to come up with empirical data on reservation for Bahujans.”
Further accusing the government of injustice, Padalkar said that it seems the government’s motive is that the Bahujans forever should continue to play second fiddle to those in power.
Padalkar said that the Bahujans have not forgotten how they were deprived of using saffron flags during the annual pilgrimage for Lord Vitthal.
“You would not be able to work for the interests of Bahujans as you continue to endlessly defend those who heap injustice on them. To understand the Bahujans, one needs self-respect,” Padalkar added.
