FADNAVIS 2 LAST (BES49)

Another prominent Maratha leader and BJP MLC Vinayak Mete Another prominent Maratha leader and BJP MLC Vinayak Metesaid the morchas being taken out by the community across werenot against dalit community. To counter rallies by Marathas, many dalit organisationshave begun staging morchas in Nanded and other parts of thestate. Mete clarified the rallies by Marathas are not led by anypolitical party or political leader. "It would be wrong to say that these morchas are beingsponsored by the NCP," he said. Referring to SC/ST Atrocities Act, the Shiv Sangramorganisation leader said dalit icon Babasaheb Ambedkar hadguaranteed the right to air one’s opinion on any Act if itsprovisions are hurting someone. Earlier, Bharipa-Bahujan Mahasangh leader and Ambedkar’sgrandson Prakash Ambedkar urged his dalit community toexercise restraint and not to carry out parallel countermorchas. He said "RSS is deliberately trying to mislead dalitcommunity by arguing that the morchas being taken out by theMaratha community are against them." Hinting that some disgruntled Maratha leaders could bebehind organising the rallies, Ambedkar said, "the heat of thegovernment probe into cooperative sector is being felt bysome. A handful of 159 families control cooperative sector,whereas others from Maratha community have no toehold incooperative sector." PTI MM NSKSMJRDS