Taking a jibe at the Maharashtra government, NCP member in Lok Sabha Supriya Sule on Thursday dubbed it as "ED sarkar" while pushing for reservation for certain communities in the ST list of the state.
Raising the issue in Lok Sabha during a discussion on the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022, Sule said in Maharashtra, communities like Lingayats, Maratha Samaj, Dhangar Samaj, and Muslims have all demanded inclusion in the list.
The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, with respect to its application to Himachal Pradesh. The Order lists the tribal communities deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in states and Union territories. The Bill includes the Hattee community of the Trans Giri area of the Sirmour district in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Himachal Pradesh.
Sule said "the Centre has 303 MPs and in Maharashtra, you have the ED sarkar. With ED I mean Eknath (Shinde) and Devendra (Fadnavis). I am not calling them ED, they themselves call ED sarkar. So if ED sarkar is saying that give reservation to Dhangar then it should be thought about," she said.
"We cannot look at tribals in a small way and I don't think charity is what they are looking for. They are looking for fair inclusion rights on merit and this world is working towards merit so why can't they also get things because they are citizens of this country and we all owe it to them," she added.
The Opposition leaders have often accused the Centre of using unethical means, including the misuse of probe agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI, in toppling the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state
