MVA govt lacked will power to get OBC quota restored in court: Devendra Fadnavis

The new state government in which the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP is the main constituent succeeded in restoring the Other Backward Classes OBC quota by submitting a report of empirical data in the Supreme Court Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on SaturdayAddressing the BJP state executive at Panvel Devendra Fadnavis said that the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government lacked the willpower to get the OBC reservation restoredModi sainiks and Shiv sainiks will take Maharashtra to greater heights he saidHe took a veiled dig at Sanjay Raut saying the Shiv Sena MP has a huge role to play in toppling the MVA governmentWhile the new government of BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has the willpower the previous MVA government lacked the same he saidAs soon as we assumed power we got the report of a dedicated OBC commission on empirical data submitted it in the court and got the OBC quota restored Wheres in the last twoandahalf years the MVA government did nothing except point fingers at the Centre Fadnavis saidThe Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra state election commission SEC and all the state authorities to ensure that process for local bodies election is immediately commenced in accordance with the recommendation made by the dedicated commission for reservation to OBCEarlier the apex court had set aside the quota for OBC in local bodies elections in Maharashtra for the lack of empirical data about their populationFadnavis asked BJP leaders and workers to have fewer expectations in the next twoandahalf years remainder of the term of the Maharashtra Assembly and work to get a massive majority in the next electionsWithout taking the name of Sanjay Raut Fadnavis equated him with a loudspeakerPeople were fed up with this loudspeaker which blared every morning so they made up their mind that if this has to stop a change in government was necessary he saidEknath Shinde came to power last month with the support of the BJP after rebelling against the Shiv Sena leadership with 40 of the 55 MLAsFadnavis said the Maratha quota was approved by the government led by him in 2018 and was also upheld by the Bombay High Court but the MVA government messed up the matter in the apex courtNow we will work to restore it Maratha quota but at the same time we will implement the schemes for the welfare of the community initiated by our government before 2019 when the BJPled government was in power We will also restart all our schemes which were withdrawn by the MVA government Fadnavis saidHe said the new governments agenda is to work for the welfare of the last person in the societyFadnavis said the Eknath Shindeled government is facing huge challenges like the damage caused by heavy rainsHe also said that a list of 12 persons to be appointed as MLCs under the Maharashtra governors quota will also include Shiv Sena members from the Shinde camp We will have to take them along too he saidWe have to work towards a bigger goal The BJP is not a private limited company Everyone comes forward with their hard work The day we give up our ideology for power we will suffer he saidFadnavis said the new government will function 24 hours all days a weekSpeaking at the event Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil said Fadnavis had set an example of sacrifice and discipline for the party workersHe was apparently referring to Fadnavis a former chief minister accepting the BJP leaderships directive to take oath as the Deputy CMPatil said obeying the directives of the party was the strength of the BJPAll leaders and workers have to work to win all the local body and civic polls scheduled this year he addedElections are due in 23 municipal corporations 25 zilla parishads and 284 panchayat samitis under their jurisdiction across the statePatil said in the last twoandahalf years the BJP had won most local bodies Though several attempts were made to target the party workers the BJP did not relentHindutva was in danger during the MVA regime and hence a new government was necessary When Eknath Shinde challenged his Uddhav Thackerays leadership the BJP decided to support him he addedWith inputs from PTI