Rajya Sabha member Narayan Rane takes credit of Maratha reservations

Rajya Sabha member Narayan Rane claimed Thursday that passage of a bill granting reservation to the Maratha community was his victory, even as he gave credit to Maratha outfits and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The Maharashtra legislature passed a bill granting 16 per cent quota to the Maratha community earlier in the day. "I don't see any difference between the earlier bill or report I had prepared and the present bill. Therefore, your victory is my victory," said Rane, a former chief minister.

Rane, himself a Maratha leader, had headed a committee formed by the previous Congress-NCP government on the issue of Maratha reservation. In his report, he had discussed how Marathas could be given separate reservation beyond the existing 52 per cent overall reservation in the state, he said.

The credit for the passage of the bill does not go to a single person, Rane said. "Leaders of several Maratha organisations pursued the matter for the last three years.... The credit for it doesn't go to any single person but to the entire Maratha community and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and therefore I am thanking him," he added.

(With inputs from agencies.)