Mumbai (The Hindu): Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Narayan Rane on Tuesday demanded Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s resignation for lying about filing an affidavit in the Bombay High Court in the ongoing Maratha reservation issue. He said his party would call for a no-confidence motion against the government in the upcoming winter session at Nagpur. Mr. Rane said talks would be held with the Nationalist Congress Party.

A week ago, Mr. Fadnavis at a press conference claimed the government had filed an affidavit, but the court adjourned the matter till December. He also asked the media to highlight the ‘right’ news about the government filing the affidavit.

On Tuesday, Mr. Rane presented a copy of the court order dated October 13, 2016. The order read, “The learned senior counsel appearing for the State seeks further time on the ground that the State is in the process of collecting further data on the basis of which the State intends to file an additional affidavit. It is therefore requested that the matters be adjourned for a longer period after the Diwali vacation.”

Mr. Rane said, “This exposes the BJP government and the Chief Minister’s lie. If the government really wants to give reservation to Marathas then why haven’t they filed the affidavit?” Mr. Rane said the government had not filed an affidavit with regard to the issue since November 14, 2014.

He alleged that the government was misguiding the Maratha population, which accounts for 34 per cent of the State’s population and has been organising silent rallies since August demanding reservation. Mr. Rane said, “The CM lied about Maratha reservation in the legislature. We will also bring a breach of privilege motion against him.”

Tawde hits back

Rejecting Mr. Rane’ s allegations, Vinod Tawde, Education Minister and president of a government committee formed for Maratha reservation issue, said Mr. Fadnavis did not lie about the affidavit issue.

Mr. Tawde said, “The government counsels asked for time to file an additional affidavit after taking information from the 2011 Census. We were ready to file the affidavit, but we sought more time from the court only to submit extra information needed to give reservation to Marathas.”

He taunted Mr. Rane who lost in the Assembly polls and is now a member of State Council. He said that the no confidence motion had to be brought in Assembly and not in Council.

Controversial statement

Mr. Fadnavis also came under fire for his statement at an event organised by godman Narendra Surve a.k.a. Narendra Maharaj. Mr. Fadnavis had claimed that when political power is corrupted, religious power brings it back on track. Mr. Rane said, “A politician must not bring religion and caste in his functioning. If he loves religious power, then why is he here? Wear saffron robes and leave all this.”