Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar warned “secular parties” against taking the minorities for granted.
Addressing a function organised by the minority cell of his party in New Delhi, Mr. Pawar said, “his was a not a big party with 150 years of experience but some big parties tend to take the minorities for granted in the belief that they would not go along with the Bharatiya Janata Party or Shiv Sena.” Mr. Pawar regretted that Justice Ranganath Misra’s report on the religious and linguistic minorities has not been implemented. The Misra report recommends 15 per cent reservation for minorities in education and employment.