P.V.Anandpadmanabhan

With assembly elections merely two months away in October, the Maharashtra government has doled out reservations in jobs and education to Marathas and Muslims – the two electorally formidable communities in the state.

Well placed sources close to senior ruling party leaders said the coalition government does not want to repeat the poor showing in the assembly polls as they had suffered in the last parliamentary elections.

In order to win them back, the state cabinet approved 16% quota for backward Marathas and 5% for Muslims in jobs and education. With this – Qouta quondam has shot up to 73% from its earlier 52%, overshooting the 50% ceiling fixed by Supreme Court.

This shows the desperation in the ruling camp, Congress-NCP, who have stayed in power since 1999 and swept away in the recently concluded 2014 polls winning only six seats while the NDA alliance pocketing 48.

On exceeding 50% ceiling, the chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said his government was prepared to fight any judicial challenges that may arise.