Mumbai: The Marathas vs OBCs reservation conflict in Maharashtra has escalated further with the OBC community holding a huge rally in Beed district on Friday to oppose the inclusion of Marathas into their category. During the rally, OBC leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal accused Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil of trying to force Marathas into the OBC community.
The rally of the OBC community was held at Ambad in Jalna district. Along with Bhujbal, several other OBC leaders, including leader of opposition in Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha Vijay Wadettiwar of the Congress and Gopichand Padalkar of the BJP, also addressed the rally.
Bhujbal stated that the OBCs are not opposed to giving reservation to the Maratha community. “There were earlier 250 castes in the OBC category. Now there are around 375 castes in the category. We had never opposed the entry of any caste but it should be done in a legal way and not through ‘dadagiri," he said.
He also slammed the state government over the Marathas banning entry to leaders in various villages and also vandalising the properties of ministers. “This is a democratic state. The police should not allow it (the ban). The state government should not be biased towards the Marathas. If it is biased, the OBCs will not sit quiet. We will fight along with the Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis to save our reservation.”
Denouncing the violence during the Maratha agitation, Bhujbal said, properties and offices were torched by agitators. “Despite the violence and damage to properties, cases against the agitators are being withdrawn,” he lamented.
Jarange-Patil has reacted strongly over Bhujbal’s statements accusing the minister of disturbing peace in the state. “He (Bhujbal) is trying to provoke the Marathas so that riots could happen. But we have decided not to respond to such people. Our fight for the reservation will continue in a peaceful manner,” he said.
Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, a descendent of legendary Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has demanded that Bhujbal should be sacked from the cabinet as the latter was trying to disturb the social harmony in the state. “The common OBCs are not against (giving reservation to) Marathas, but Bhujbal is trying to create enmity between the two communities. The state government should take action if a minister is openly trying to create a communal rift,” he said.
