Mumbai, July 30: The Shiv Sena on Monday softened its opposition to the Devendra Fadnavis government on the issue of Maratha reservation and blamed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar for flaming the ongoing agitation. At a meeting of Shiv Sena MLAs with Uddhav Thackeray at Matohshree, the party reportedly decided to demand the resignation of Supriya Sule, Lok Sabha MP and daughter of Sharad Pawar.

Earlier today, Uddhav Thackeray said Shiv Sena MLAs would meet CM Devendra Fadnavis to seek a definite solution to the reservation demands made by the Maratha community in Maharashtra. "All the MLAs of Shiv Sena will meet Chief Minister Devendra Fanadvis today. Considering all the demands of the community, let's take a firm decision about it," Thackeray said.

The Shiv Sena chief appealed Marathas to give up its aggressiveness, adding that the government should not wait for Backward Commission's report and must give reservation to the community. This is a surprising change in the stance of Shiv Sena as far as its position on Devendra Fadnavis is concerned. So far, the party has remained critical of how the Fadnavis government dealt with the Maratha agitation.

Recently, Sena took a dig at Fadnavis and said that his cabinet colleague Pankaja Munde should be made the CM for at least an hour to clear the Maratha reservation file. Munde, who is the Rural Development Minister, in a veiled swipe at Fadnavis over the Maratha reservation issue, had recently said that she would not have delayed the decision if she was in charge.

Marathas, a politically influential community that constitutes around 30 per cent of the state's population, have been demanding a 16 per cent reservation. The community had earlier taken out silent marches across the state to highlight their demands, prominent among them being that of reservation.

The stir, however, turned violent earlier this week with the protesters pelting stones, torching vehicles, blocking roads and stopping train services in several parts of the state. The violence began after a 27-year-old protester from Aurangabad jumped to his death in Godavari river on July 23. (With PTI inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2018 05:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).