Raj Thackeray bats for giving priority to locals in employment, says pvt sector creating more jobs

Mumbai, Aug 5 (PTI) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday said how many people will benefit from caste-based reservation in government jobs when more employment opportunities are being created in the private sector.

Speaking to reporters in Pandharpur town of Solapur district, Thackeray said locals should be given priority in job opportunities.

"My stance is that locals should be given priority in job opportunities. Why should caste be a factor in this? If the private sector continues to create jobs, we should think about how many people will actually benefit from reservation in government jobs," the MNS chief said.

All communities should understand that they are being fooled only for votes, he said.

Thackeray's comments have come on the backdrop of the agitation by Marathas seeking reservation in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes category.

"Students from other states easily get admission to educational institutes here (Maharashtra) and get jobs. Nobody speaks about the challenges of locals not getting those jobs," Thackeray said.

Maharashtra, which once guided the country, is now stuck in caste politics, he noted.

Thackeray further said the unconditional support to the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls was only to PM Narendra Modi.

"The unconditional support was to Narendra Modi. I never gave any assurances regarding the state assembly elections," he said.

Asked about the BJP accusing the opposition of spreading negative narratives about it, Thackeray claimed it was the BJP's candidate from the Ayodhya seat who had mentioned the change in the Constitution ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

"This means the BJP itself provided the opposition with a negative narrative line, which was not even discussed earlier," he claimed.

The MNS has announced the names of former MLA Bala Nandgaonkar and Dileep Dhotre as candidates from the Shivdi (Mumbai) and Pandharpur constituencies, respectively, in the upcoming assembly polls.

A few weeks ago, Thackeray expressed his intention to field candidates in all 288 assembly constituencies. PTI ND ARU