Jarange-Patil kicks off tour to push for Maratha reservation; OBC activist calls off hunger strike

Mumbai: A fortnight after he withdrew his hunger strike giving respite to the ruling alliance, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Saturday began a 12-day tour to cover 13 districts in Maharashtra. His objective is to pressure the government to grant the Maratha youths reservation in jobs and education either through a new quota or by sharing the benefits given to the other backward classes (OBCs).

Jarange-Patil’s demand for Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community in Marathwada region has upset OBC outfits. They are worried that a similar demand will come from Marathas in other areas, and they will eventually end up losing a large chunk of their quota as Kunbi is a sub-caste of Marathas but gets reservation under the OBC quota.

This has put the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) government in a tight spot. While on one hand it has announced that Kunbi certificates will be issued to Marathas in Marathwada with riders, it is also trying to pacify the OBCs by assuring them that their quota won’t be touched.

Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis rushed to Chandrapur on Saturday morning to meet OBC activist Ravindra Tonge who had been on a hunger strike for 21 days. Tonge called off his strike after Fadnavis assured him that their quota would not be shared with any other community, especially Marathas.

Fadnavis said, “The state government is unwavering in its commitment to the OBC reservation. We will provide quota to the Maratha community without undermining the interests of the OBCs.”

The BJP leader further said he was the first CM to have started an independent OBC department to focus on the welfare schemes for the community. “The state government is also positive about carrying out a caste-based census subject to the verdict of the Supreme Court in an ongoing matter.”

He claimed that both BJP and the Narendra Modi government are deeply committed to the interests of the OBC community. The deputy CM referred to the Centre’s historic decision to introduce 27% reservation for OBCs in government medical colleges, a first in 70 years. “The government also has plans to build 10 lakh houses for OBCs, providing shelter to homeless and economically disadvantaged people.”

Forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar accompanied Fadnavis.

On Friday evening, chief minister Eknath Shinde along with Fadnavis and another deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had a three-hour-long meeting with OBC leaders at Sahyadri Guest House in Malabar Hill. “The state government has no plans to bring down reservation of any community. We will not issue Kunbi certificates to all Marathas,” Shinde said.

Among the three ruling partners, it is the BJP that is cautious not to antagonise the OBCs who form a strong support base for the party.

“We are definitely making efforts to get Marathas on our side but while doing so we are careful that the OBCs who have stood by us so far should not feel cheated. Else it will have repercussions on our electoral arithmetic,” a BJP minister, who did not wish to be named, said.

Jarange-Patil has planned to travel through 13 districts of the state and at the end of his tour, he will hold a rally in Antarwali-Sarati village on October 14.

Following his 17-day hunger strike that forced the Shinde government to announce issuing Kunbi certificates to Marathas on certain conditions, he has gained significant popularity within the community.

“I have given 40 days to the government to fulfill their promise of issuing Kunbi certificates. I will make my stand clear after the deadline is over,” Jarange-Patil told reporters as he kicked off his tour.

Reacting to the development, Baban Taywade, national president of Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, said, “If the government gives Kunbi certificates to all Marathas and shares our quota with them, we will intensify our agitation. After that the government will be responsible for the situation.”

Traditionally, Marathas largely supported the Congress and NCP while BJP and Shiv Sena got the support from the OBC community and non-Buddhists. Little wonder, Fadnavis did not go to meet Jarange-Patil (mainly to avoid any unwanted scene due to the anger among local people over the police lathi-charge at Antarwali-Sarati) but he made it a point to visit the OBC community leaders on protest at Nagpur immediately after Shinde met the Maratha activist.

(With inputs from Pradip Kumar Maitra)