MUMBAI: The Maratha community’s umbrella body on Monday warned the BJP-led Maharashtra government that “if it does not want to turn Maharashtra into a Manipur, then it should immediately resolve the perennial Maratha reservation issue as early as possible.”
The All Indian Maratha Mahasangh called a meeting in Nagpur on Monday where a decision was taken to fight for the Maratha reservation.
Dilip Jagtap, Maratha Mahasangh chief, said since the state and Central government are ruled by the BJP, there should be no problem in announcing the reservations to the Marathas.
“If they want to lift the 50 per cent cap on the reservation, they can do it but reservation to the Maratha community should be given,” said Jagtap.
“The Maratha community is in a majority in many parts of the state. Yet it is socially and economically backward. Our leader Manoj Garange Patil has been on hunger strike for 12 days, but no concrete solution has come out yet. His health is deteriorating. If something happens to his life, then the state government will be responsible,” Jagtap warned.
On the other hand, restlessness grew among the OBC community over the talk of including Marathas in the OBC category. However, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday clarified that the government would not do injustice to the OBC communities.
The Maratha community is demanding the issuance of a Kunbi caste certificate that will help it get a place in the OBC category because the community is already notified as the OBC. Earlier, the Maharashtra government gave 16 per cent reservation to the Marathas but the Supreme Court struck it down citing faulty empirical data and a cap of 50 per cent reservation.
The Kunbi is a major agrarian caste in Vidarbha and North Maharashtra. The SC struck down the reservation citing a lack of data to prove that the Marathas are backward.