Mumbai: Amidst the row between Marathas and Other Backward Classes (OBC) on a reservation issue, NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who has been fiercely opposing the inclusion of Marathas into the OBC category, on Wednesday took a jibe at the Maratha community saying that there will be no Marathas left in Maharashtra if all of them were given Kunbi certificates.
Bhujbal’s statement has come on the backdrop of the Maharashtra government starting the process of giving Kunbi caste certificates to those Marathas who possess revenue or education documents from the Nizam era that recognise them as Kunbis. However, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil has demanded that all Marathas should be given Kunbai certificates so that they can be included in the OBC category to avail quota benefits in education and government jobs.
“If Marathas get blanket Kunbi certificates, there will be no separate identity of the Maratha community in Maharashtra. They will all become OBCs,” he said sarcastically in Nagpur, where the winter session of the Maharashtra Legislature will begin from Thursday.
When asked whether the inclusion of Marathas will affect the OBC reservation, Bhujbal said, “I feel now that there is no need to do anything else because all Maratha community members are taking Kunbi certificates and getting included in the OBC category. I think there is no need for any other solution.”
To a query on the hearing of a curative petition in the Supreme Court, the NCP minister said, “I have already said whether you do curative petition or bring some other bill, when all are turning Kunbis and becoming part of OBC category, then who will be left out?”
The curative petition was filed against the Supreme Court's May 2021 judgment, striking down the Maharashtra legislation providing reservation for Maratha community.
Kunbi, a sub-caste of Marathas, is grouped under the OBC category in Maharashtra and enjoys reservation benefits in education and government jobs. Bhujbal has demanded that the process of issuing ‘Kunbi’ caste certificates to Marathas should be stopped and the panel set up for studying the demand of ‘Kunbi’ certificate should be scrapped.
The OBC leader also alleged that fake Kunbi certificates are being distributed to Marathas by using pressure tactics. He said, “The same thing will happen during the caste census. All efforts are being taken to ensure that Marathas get the Kunbi certificates.”
