Maratha quota activist vows to defeat Mahayuti if OBC reservation not granted
Mumbai: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Saturday warned the Maharashtra government to provide reservation to the Maratha community under the OBC category or he will defeat all 288 candidates of the ruling parties in Maharashtra Assembly election which is expected to be held in mid October of this year. Manoj Jarange’s deadline of one month ends on July 13. Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai said that the government will resolve the issue soon.
Jarange held a rally in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (erstwhile Aurangabad). The rally saw a huge response. He warned that the government would not be able to afford Maratha community’s wrath. He also claimed that the issue of Maratha reservation would destroy the existence of the ruling parties and their candidates. “It is not too late, I and my community don’t want to join politics. Don’t force us to join politics... .We will certainly defeat all 288 candidates (in the Assembly election),” the Maratha activist said.
Earlier in this week, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had called an all-party meeting on the issue of the OBC-Maratha quota reservation controversy. While Jarange is demanding reservation from the OBC quota, OBC outfits have opposed the demand. None of the opposition parties is supporting Jarange’s demand, but they are also not openly opposing it. The government wanted the opposition parties to spell out their stand. However, the opposition parties did not attend the meeting called by the CM.
The Maratha quota activist said that the opposition parties should have attended the meeting, but the government cannot shift responsibility on them. “The opposition’s stand should be in favour of justice for the people. Since the opposition have not attended the meeting, you (the government) cannot make it an excuse and not resolve the issue of Maratha reservation. If they (opposition) did not turn up, you (ruling parties) are in power and should have a political will to give reservation,” he said.
Jarange also asked why the ruling parties want the opposition to resolve this issue. “Instead of this, the government should tell me that being in power, they (ruling parties) have passed an Act which makes Marathas and Kunbis the same without the support of the opposition,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Desai that the government is holding a review meeting every day on Maratha reservation. “Manoj Jarange is insisting on the implementation of the Hyderabad Gazette. For this, a team of 11 officers has gone to the state of Telangana for the last four days. The team came back yesterday (July 12). I will have a discussion with them on Monday. We are positive about that. The CM has made a promise to resolve the issue. We will definitely try to find a way out on this issue as soon as possible,” the cabinet minister said.
According to the Maratha quota activist, Hyderabad gazette mentions the ‘Maratha-Kunbis’ and ‘Kunbi-Marathas’, which is proof that ‘Kunbis’ and Marathas are the same. In Maharashtra, Kunbi community is listed in the OBC category.
The state government has provided a separate 10 per cent reservation to the Maratha community, which has been challenged in the high court. However, Jarange has rejected separate reservation and wants it under the OBC category.