The Maharashtra government decided to extend job reservations to Marathas and Muslims, seeking to win over two important communities to claw back into the assembly contest after the rout in Lok Sabha elections. The assembly polls are to be held in October.
The state cabinet approved 16% quota for backward Marathas and 5% for Muslims in jobs and education.
However, the gambit -part of `quota politics' that Congress has resorted to in the recent past like the inclusion of Jats in the OBC list ahead of parliamentary polls -could face serious judicial challenge. The quota quantum in Maharashtra that stood at 52% earlier has shot up to 73%, way above the 50% ceiling fixed by the Supreme Court.
Also, reservation for Muslims, promulgated by the Centre during UPA-2 and the Andhra Pradesh government earlier, was shot down by the judiciary in the recent years after it refused to buy the argument that it was given on the basis of backwardness and not religion.
If the move is risky , it reflects the desperation in the ruling camp following the whitewash in the 2014 polls.
The NCP-Congress combo could win only six LS seats in Maharashtra, while Shiv Sena-BJP alliance walked away with the rest of the 48 seats.
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