GIVE AND DON'T TAKE

Maharashtra wants to give reservation to Marathas, but, to avoid a massive electoral backlash, it wants to leave the OBC quota untouched

- DNYANESH JATHAR

ON NOVEMBER 8, as the weekly meeting of the Maharashtra cabinet was nearing its end, a war of words broke out between two senior ministers—the Nationalist Congress Party’s Chhagan Bhujbal and the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena faction’s Shambhuraj Desai.

Bhujbal has been opposed to the Maratha community being given reservation from the OBC quota. Bhujbal is among the tallest OBC leaders in the state and had called an all-party meeting of OBC leaders at his residence on November 7.

Desai, who belongs to Maratha nobility, objected to Bhujbal’s actions and statements. As they continued to spar, Chief Minister Shinde intervened and asked them not to make any statements that would go against the government’s stand on the issue. But, the ex change between Bhujbal and Desai made it clear there was no unanimity within the Shinde government over the issue. 

The OBCs have been restless in the wake of two hunger strikes by Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil, who wants reservation for all Marathas as Kunbi OBC subcaste.

Bhujbal was in Jalna district recently and has called for a massive OBC rally at Ambad on November 17. Ambad is not far from Antarwali Sarati, the village where Patil held his fasts.

In Jalna, Bhujbal said that the attacks on the houses of NCP MLAs Prakash Solanke and Sandip Kshirsagar, allegedly by pro-reservation protestors, were pre-planned. Solanke is an Ajit Pawar loyalist while Kshirsagar, an OBC leader, is a Sharad Pawar loyalist.