Aurangabad: The Maratha Kranti Morcha has demanded that state revenue minister Chandrakant Patil be removed as head of the cabinet sub-committee formed by the government over reservation for members of the community.Accusing Patil of causing a rift in the agitation, Maratha Kranti Morcha leaders said the minister has no right to head the panel. Ramesh Kere-Patil, one of the Morcha leaders, slammed Patil and said the chief minister should appoint someone else. “Chandrakant Patil is among the few Maratha leaders from the state’s ruling parties who is leaving no stone unturned to weaken the agitation of our community. The CM should remove him from the cabinet sub-committee and appoint some other competent person. We have no particular suggestions and the government is free to replace him with anyone else,” said Kere-Patil.Last month, the state government formed a five-member cabinet sub-committee, headed by Chandrakant Patil, over the issue of reservation for the Maratha community. Diwakar Raote and Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena, and Girish Mahajan and Sambhaji Patil-Nilangekar of BJP are the other members of the panel.The Maratha Kranti Morcha has also criticised the alleged crackdown by the state against those speaking against the current regime through social media. A spate of cases have been reported where action has been taken against some individuals for criticizing the government using Facebook or WhatsApp. This sort of a crackdown is dictatorial and a blot on democracy, said Morcha leaders.The Maratha community has also announced that a state-level convention of its members will be held in Aurangabad on October 29. “The convention will discuss the future course of action to pursue for our different demands. It will serve as platform for brainstorming and charting out future advocacy plans,” said organizers.After 58th and final ‘muk morcha’ (silent protest) of the community in Mumbai on August 9, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced that a cabinet sub-committee would be set up to look into the various demands raised. Ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena has already criticized the move to set up the panel and termed it ‘time pass’.After the alleged rape and murder of teenage girl from the community in Kopardi of Ahmednagar district in July last year, a host of Maratha organizations had come united to organize a massive silent march to protest against the incident and press for other demands, including reservation. Since then, the community has organized a series of marches in major cities across the state including Mumbai and Pune.