"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.