Jarange expresses confidence about Marathas getting quota; OBC leaders unhappy

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday said the Maratha community in Marathwada and western Maharashtra will now get reservation, even as OBC leaders expressed unhappiness over the government's decision and warned of agitation.

Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is a prominent leader from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), skipped the state cabinet meeting, indicating all was not well.

“We have scored a victory, and the credit goes to the Maratha community. Maratha people from Marathwada and western Maharashtra will now get quota,” Jarange told reporters from a hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, appealing to his supporters to maintain calm and have faith in his decision.

The 43-year-old activist, who returned from Mumbai after ending his hunger strike, is receiving medical care in a private hospital here for dehydration and low blood sugar.

“Not a single line had been written by the state government in our favour till now. People should not believe in the ‘joker-type’ individuals (who have criticised his move). Those speaking against the decision have done nothing for the Maratha community,” Jarange said.

The Bombay High Court, however, sought a response from the activist to allegations made in petitions opposing his five-day agitation, noting that large scale damage was caused to property in Mumbai.

Civic personnel worked through the night to remove heaps of garbage, food items and mineral water bottles left behind on roads and Azad Maidan in south Mumbai after Jarange ended his fast.

More than 125 metric tonnes of garbage was lifted from Azad Maidan and surrounding areas during the five-day-long Maratha quota agitation, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the government found a solution in the interest of the Maratha community.

Jarange called off the protest after the government accepted most of his demands, including granting eligible Marathas Kunbi caste certificates, which will make them eligible for reservation benefits available to the OBCs.

The government has announced forming a committee to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Maratha community members with historical evidence of their Kunbi heritage, a social group classified as an OBC in the state.

The Kunbi is a traditional farming community in the state and they have been included in the list of OBC category in Maharashtra in order to make them eligible for government reservations in jobs and education.

The government resolution (GR) issued by the social justice and special assistance department also mentioned about implementing the Hyderabad gazetteer.

Jarange said members of his community will eventually understand his decision to call off the agitation. “No Maratha in the Marathwada region will be left out of quota,” he said, adding village-level committees will be made to help Marathas establish their Kunbi lineage.

“The community is happy, I am happy,” he said.

Asked about Bhujbal skipping the cabinet meeting, Jarange said, “That means he is a clever leader. It also means the Maratha community has succeeded in getting reservation.” Jarange also claimed that attempts to take the matter to court will fail as the “GR cannot be challenged”.

OBC activist Laxman Hake, however, claimed the government has no right to accept the demand for providing Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas and warned that Other Backward Classes will take to the streets against the decision.

Political leaders should explain if they are open to dilution of the Other Backward Classes quota, he said.

Jarange on Wednesday submitted to the HC that the Maratha quota agitation has been called off after the issue was resolved.

A bench of acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Aarti Sathe accepted the submission but said the activist will have to file his affidavit in response to various other allegations made in the petitions against the five-day protest held by him and his supporters in Mumbai.

“There are some issues. Large-scale damages were caused to public property. Who will pay for that?” the bench asked.

Advocates Satish Maneshinde and V M Thorat, appearing for Jarange and the organisations that led the agitation, however, asserted no such damage was caused except for inconvenience to the common man.

The bench said Jarange and the organisations must file affidavits clarifying their stand.

Activist Vinod Patil, who has filed petitions in courts concerning the Maratha quota, called the GR on granting Kunbi certificates to eligible community members “completely useless”.

The GR, issued after Jarange's protest in Mumbai, will not benefit the community in any meaningful way, claimed Patil.