Kunbis have reservations under the OBC quota, and giving eligible Marathas a Kunbi caste certificate would enable them to seek reservation under the OBC quota too.
Chhagan Bhujbal, a minister in the Shinde cabinet from the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Monday raised concerns about “backdoor entry” for Marathas to get reservations under the OBC quota, and said that he opposed any such attempts by the government.
Bhujbal’s statement triggered Shambhuraj Desai, a cabinet minister from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. At a press conference Tuesday, he slammed Bhujbal’s statement as “surprising coming from a responsible minister”, and questioned if the minister was attempting to create confusion in the minds of people.
Desai also said he and some other ministers who think like him would meet CM Shinde and the state’s two deputy CMs, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, to put forth their stand about Bhujbal’s statement.
The Maharashtra government comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
Meanwhile, leaders of the OBC community have now threatened to hit the streets in protest against the granting of Kunbi certificates to Marathas and accommodating them under their quota.
OBC leader Prakash Shendge, speaking to reporters, said his community would launch an agitation against the state government’s move after Diwali.
Maharashtra was gripped by a fresh wave of protests by the Maratha community seeking reservation in government jobs and education last month and earlier this month.
Maratha community leader Manoj Jarange-Patil was on an indefinite fast since 25 October saying that all Marathas were originally Kunbis and should be given reservation as Kunbis under the OBC quota. He ended the fast on 2 November, warning of a bigger agitation if no action was taken on his demands in two months .
The Shinde-led government, which had set up a committee to inspect records and grant Kunbi caste certificates to eligible persons in Marathwada, extended the committee’s scope to across Maharashtra and had urged Patil to call off his hunger strike, promising to expedite the process. The government has sought time from Patil till 2 January next year.
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Rift among ministers
Speaking in the Marathwada region’s Jalna district Monday, Bhujbal, a leader from the OBC community, said the government had initially decided to grant Kunbi status to Marathas in the region with Nizam-era documents showing them to be Kunbis.
“But, this number now seems to be swelling and there is a demand to grant blanket reservation to all Marathas as Kunbis,” Bhujbal said, adding that it was akin to securing “backdoor entry”.
He also indirectly criticised the Maratha community, saying protesters were using force and intimidation to attain their objectives.
Shinde-led Shiv Sena minister Desai questioned Bhujbal’s statements, alleging that there seemed to be a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation.
“We are all left wondering if Bhujbal saheb is trying to create confusion by making such statements. When the question of Maratha reservation came for discussion in the cabinet, Bhujbal saheb and the entire cabinet was there. The entire cabinet took a clear decision that we have to give reservation to the Maratha community without touching the existing reservations,” Desai said.
The minister said the procedure to grant Kunbi caste certificates to eligible members of the Maratha community was also ascertained in a cabinet meeting attended by Bhujbal, according to the recommendations of the Shinde committee, headed by retired justice Sandeep Shinde.
The committee has determined the standard operating procedure to grant Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas.
“So, what Bhujbal saheb has done is wrong. There is likely to be a cabinet meeting (Wednesday). We will meet Eknath Shinde saheb and put forth our stand to him. We will also bring this up with the deputy CMs, Fadnavis saheb and Ajit Pawar saheb,” Desai said.
OBC leaders plan protest
Leaders of the OBC community met Bhujbal at his official residence in Mumbai Tuesday and urged him not to resign from the cabinet despite his differences with the government on the issue of Kunbi certificates to eligible Marathas across the state.
“We have urged Bhujbal saheb to fight by staying in the government and not step down from the cabinet. Meanwhile, we will fight outside. Now, this conflict is to protect our rightful quota. We are waiting for Diwali to get over, after which we will launch a state-wide agitation,” said OBC leader Shendge while speaking with reporters after the meeting with Bhujbal.
Shendge said the Supreme Court has declared that the Maratha community was not backward, and that no person could suddenly be declared backward by simply getting a certificate.
He clarified that the OBCs were not against reservation to the Maratha community, but it should not touch their quota. “That will be injustice to the poor OBCs across Maharashtra,” he said.
The OBCs comprise 52 per cent of Maharashtra’s population, while the Marathas comprise about 33 per cent.
Patil, meanwhile, said Bhujbal’s visit to the Marathwada region Monday was politically motivated and that the leader remembered the OBCs according to his convenience.
The Maharashtra government had in 2018 passed a law to grant reservation to the Maratha community, but the Supreme Court struck it down in 2021 calling it “unconstitutional”. The state government first filed a review petition in the matter and has now filed a curative petition.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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