Amid Maharashtra quota ferment, faultlines between OBCs, Marathas deepen ahead of Assembly polls

Barely four kms away from Antarwali Sarathi is the Wadigodri village, which is fast becoming the centre of the OBC agitation against the proposed Maratha reservation within the existing 19% OBC quota in jobs and education.

Ahead of the Assembly polls slated for October 2024, the OBC agitation has been gaining momentum in the state. Within days of their indefinite fast launched on June 13, Hake and Waghmare received massive support from various OBC outfits from across Maharashtra.

On Friday, a state government delegation led by BJP minister Girish Mahajan had visited the site of the OBC agitation. Mahajan made an appeal to Hake and Waghmare to withdraw the agitation with the assurance that all their concerns would be addressed. However, the OBC activists had rejected this plea. Instead, Hake had said they wanted all the assurances from the state government in writing.

On Saturday, however, after a high-level state government delegation comprising several ministers and others – led by senior NCP minister and OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal – visited them in the Wadigodri village, Hake and Waghmare broke their fast. “We are temporarily suspending our protest. If our demands are not met, we will resume it,” Hake said, adding that a “white paper” should be issued about objections to the government’s draft notification that seeks to give Kunbi certificates to “sage soyare (close relatives)” of Marathas who have already established their Kunbi status. Kunbis are an agrarian OBC community.

Though the OBC activists’ fast has ended for now, the reservation politics has led to a sharp polarisation between Marathas and OBCs in the state, especially in the Marathwada region. The Maratha agitation led by Patil adversely impacted the electoral fortunes of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP failed to win any of the eight Lok Sabha seats in the region. The Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP are the BJP’s allies in the Mahayuti coalition.

Patil had demanded an issuance of the draft notification on ‘sage soyare’ at the earliest to give all Marathas access to Nizam-era Kunbi certificates, followed by reservation under the OBC category. However, the OBC leaders believe that if Patil’s demand is accepted by the state, it would create a “quota within a quota” and dilute reservation for OBCs.

“If Marathas get reservation under the OBC category, it will be a great injustice to OBCs. We will not allow the government to compromise the OBC quota,” Hake said, adding, “We are not opposed to a Maratha reservation provided they get a separate quota.”

In February this year, the Mahayuti government provided for 10% reservation to Marathas through the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes legislation, which was passed unanimously in the Assembly.

On his part, however, Patil has been insisting on the full implementation of the draft notification on “sage soyare”. “Notification on sage soyare would entitle Marathas and their blood relations access to Kunbi certificates. The Kunbi certificates would help them seek OBC quota,” he said. His insistence for the “sage soyare” notification is rooted in the theory that Marathas will benefit more from a quota within the OBC category – it is more likely to withstand legal scrutiny, whereas a separate quota may be challenged in the courts.

Girish Mahajan, however, claimed the government is committed to Maratha reservation besides safeguarding the OBC quota. “(Unfortunately) Patil is not willing to listen. The state government has already given Marathas 10% quota. Now, he is stuck on the notification on sage soyare. He does not realise that the notification issued will not withstand legal test,” the minister said.

Since the OBC stir began, leaders of the community and others from across party lines – including Mahajan, BJP national secretary Pankaja Munde, NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) president Prakash Ambedkar, and the Congress’s Vijay Wadettiwar, among others have made a beeline to Jalna to meet Hake and Waghmare to express their solidarity and to request them to end their strike.

Prakash Ambedkar, who met Hake earlier this week, was critical of the government’s handling of the reservation issue and said polarisation between Marathas and OBCs could lead to law and order problems in the state. He also claimed that both the ruling camp and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties were trying to exploit the issue to their advantage.

Officially, the government and the Opposition maintain that Hake and Waghmare’s decision to launch their “indefinite fast” was their “personal decision”, but Patil claims it was orchestrated by the Mahayuti alliance. “The OBC hunger strike was a ploy to counter the Maratha agitation. It was the handiwork of the government,” Patil said. However, Mahajan dismissed the charge as “baseless and ridiculous”.

Notwithstanding the trading of allegations on the issue, the point remains that the BJP is looking to consolidate its OBC vote base. A senior BJP functionary, requesting anonymity, said, “In the Lok Sabha polls, the Maratha reservation went against the BJP. The Opposition reaped benefits. Now, the unrest among OBCs will bring their fragmented communities under one umbrella. Whether it helps the ruling alliance or not will have to be seen.”