"This move will infuriate the whole state. There are over 400 castes that fall under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. How will 400 castes tolerate such injustice? Are you going to put 400 castes on the back foot to appease one?" said Babanrao Taywade, president of the National OBC Mahasangh in Maharashtra.
One of the 47 representatives of the OBC community invited by chief minister Eknath Shinde for talks scheduled for 29 September, Taywade told The Quint that they have only one key demand: All Marathas cannot be categorised as Kunbis.
For over a month, the state has been on the edge with caste politics at its peak.
A gist of the unrest:
In early September, the Eknath Shinde-led government was seen bowing down to the demands of Manoj Jarange Patil, the Maratha activist on hunger strike who demanded that all Marathas be identified as Kunbis.
Kunbi, a sub-caste in the Maratha community, comes under the OBC umbrella that has 27% reservation in in local bodies, educational institutions, and government jobs.
The Marathas comprise of close to 32% of the state's population. So, if all Marathas get categorised as Kunbis and subsequently OBCs, the community will be eligible for reservation too.
'Marathas Can Get Reservation But Not from Our Share'
Speaking to The Quint, Taywade said that the OBCs don't oppose reservation for Marathas but the community cannot come under the OBC category.
"We just want that the government should not give blanket certificates of Kunbi castes to all Marathas. We need this assurance in writing," Taywade said.
"The only solution is for the state government to reject the cap of 50% for reservations and give quota to Marathas independently. We don't have any issue with that. But the share of the OBCs should not be touched," he added.
This puts the state government in a limbo with the Supreme Court already having denied reservation to Marathas in May 2021 for crossing the 50% cap.
Simmering Vidarbha a Cause of Concern
The biggest cause for concern for the state government is the Vidarbha region where the BJP enjoys political dominance. The region has 11 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats out of which the BJP won five and its then alliance partner Shiv Sena won three in 2019.
With 62 of the 288 Assembly seats from the region, the BJP won 28 in 2019.
Even the Kunbis from Vidarbha are opposing Jarange's demand of categorising all Marathas as Kunbis, with protests being held across the region since the peak of the Maratha agitation in early September.
For the past several weeks, members of the National OBC Mahasangh and the All-Union OBC Kunbi Federation have been on a huger strike to oppose the demands of Jarange in Nagpur, the home turf of deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Fadnavis even met the protesters on 17 September and and assured them that the reservation for the Maratha community will not affect the reservation for the OBCs.
'The Govt Needs to Clarify Its Stand'
The OBCs, however, are demanding more clarity from the government.
"Fadnavis just assured us that Marathas won't get quota reserved for OBCs. But if all Marathas get Kunbi certificates, won't that make them eligible for OBC resrevation? He did not clarify whether the Kunbi certificates will be given to all Marathas," Taywade said.
He further said that if all Marathas are given Kunbi certificates, the state will be plunged into further unrest.
In the past, there have been demands from the OBC community to increase the percentage of reservation being give to OBCs since the quota currently being provided is on the basis of the 1931 census.
"We need the government to clarify its stand. The most important term here is 'blanket reservation.' There are some Marathas who have proofs of being from other sub-castes for decades. How can you just change their caste overnight?" Taywade asked.
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