(MENAFN- IANS) Mumbai, Oct 1 (IANS) Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP on Tuesday suffered a setback after a former minister, Padmakar Valvi, who hails from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, resigned from the party's primary membership objecting to the state government's proposed move to provide reservation to Dhangar community from the ST category.
Valvi said that he would soon announce his future plans.
In the resignation letter, Valvi said: "I am resigning from the primary membership of the BJP."
Although, he has not mentioned any specific reason, he has indicated that he was totally against the stand taken by the state government of providing reservation to Dhangar community from the ST category.
Valvi, who was minister in the Congress-NCP government, had switched to BJP in March this year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections saying "the pace of work by the BJP, and the planning made by the party from state to the Centre reaches people. Its effect can be seen".
His move came on a day when Union Home Minister Amit Shah was in Mumbai on a two-day visit to review the BJP's poll preparations and discuss with MahaYuti partners over the seat sharing for the ensuing assembly election.
The decision to resign from the primary membership of the BJP also came a day after the tribal leaders from the state on Monday staged a dharna demanding protection of their rights.
Incidentally, NCP leader and Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal and NCP Minister Dharmarao Baba Atram have also strongly opposed providing reservation to the Dhangar community from the ST category.
Zirwal had claimed that the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde should have invited ST leaders before making an announcement of providing quota to Dhangar community from ST category and also to issue a government resolution stating Dhangars and Dhangads as one and the same.
Zirwal further warned that if the state government sticks to its decision then nearly 60 to 65 legislators will resign against it.
Incidentally, the Dhangar community claims that the Dhangad tribe, which has ST status, is identical to the Dhangars and that a "spelling mistake has cost them the ST status".
Out of 288 Assembly seats, Maharashtra has 25 seats reserved for the ST community. As far as Dhangars are concerned, the community is presently a part of the OBC list and holds a presence largely in western Maharashtra with an influence in around 25-30 assembly seats.
Furthermore, Congress legislator Hiraman Khosla on Tuesday threatened to resign if the government issues a notification on Dhangar reservation.
"I will resign as the legislator. Due to this wrong decision of the state government, our children will be on the streets. We are not against Dhangar reservation. However, if you want to include them in the ST category, we will oppose it," he said.
"For example, consider Nashik district in north Maharashtra, there are 60,000 to 70,00 tribal votes in each assembly constituency. It will be very difficult for the government if we take a different decision. If the Dhangar community is protesting on the streets, then we will also take to the streets and protest strongly," he said.
MENAFN01102024000231011071ID1108736032
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.