Maharashtra Ruling Parties Leaders Oppose Maratha Quota in OBC Category
Mumbai: A day after the Eknath Shinde government issued a notification regarding the inclusion of the Maratha community in the OBC category as Kunbi, the voices of descent have started to emerge from the ruling dispensation. Senior BJP leader and Union minister Narayan Rane, who is a Maratha, said he does not approve of the Shinde government’s decision.
“The decision to certify Marathas as Kunbis is an insult to the glorious history of the Maratha community. It will lead to suppression of the Maratha community that has a historical legacy and it will also be an encroachment on the other backward communities,” Rane said in his post on X Sunday.
The union minister further said he does not agree with the Maharashtra government’s decision to give all benefits enjoyed by the OBCs to Marathas till they get a reservation. It would be an encroachment on the (rights of) other backward communities and could lead to unrest in Maharashtra.
Senior NCP leader from the Ajit Pawar faction and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal has also expressed dissatisfaction over the state government’s decision and opposed the ‘backdoor entry’ of Marathas into the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
“The OBCs are having a feeling that they have lost their reservations as Marathas will take the benefits. I support giving a separate reservation to Marathas, but not sharing the existing OBC quota with them. Because once they become a part of the existing reservations for OBCs, only they will get the benefits,” he said.
The reactions have come a day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that till Marathas get a reservation, they will be given all the benefits enjoyed by the OBCs as Kunbis.
A draft notification was issued by the government following negotiations with Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil stating that blood relatives of a Maratha person, who has records to show that he belongs to the agrarian Kunbi community, would also be recognised as Kunbi.
