Dhangar quota issue hits Council

Mumbai: The Upper House was adjourned on Thursday after uproar over providing reservation to the Dhangar community.

The uproar began after legislators from the ruling alliance objected to few  ‘unparliamentary’ words in Congress leader Bhai Jagtap’s speech.

While the speaking on the issue of reservation to the community, Mr Jagtap commented, “Reservation is neither one’s bailment nor anyone’s property.”

Bharatiya Janata Party MLCs demanded deletion  of the ‘unparliamentary’ words, but the Opposition refused to budge and resorted to sloganeering against the government.

The pandemonium in the House forced Chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar to adjourn the House twice for 10 minutes each and then for an hour before adjourning it for the day.

The Opposition blamed chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for not taking any decision on providing reservation to the Dhangar community, alleging that the state government had sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore in its budget to hoodwink the community.

Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde called the government “anti-Dhangar” and questioned its inability to table Tata Institute of Social Science’s report on the community.  

“Both the Houses should know the contents of the report on the Dhangar community. Why was it directly submitted to the Attorney General?,” Mr Munde asked.