MUMBAI: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Thursday threatened to launch a bigger agitation against the Maharashtra government over the cancellation of OBC certificates issued to members of the Maratha community.
The certificates had been issued to Marathas who established their Kunbi lineage through historical records at the taluka level. However, the state-appointed caste validity committees later cancelled several of these OBC certificates.
Jarange Patil alleged that the cancellations were carried out under pressure from BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, claiming that he had directed caste validity committees to revoke the certificates issued to members of the Maratha community.
He questioned how the certificates could be cancelled when applicants had produced documentary evidence to establish their Kunbi identity.
“Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should not forget that he is CM because of the support of Maratha community MLAs. The Maratha community has the power to defeat several MLAs of the ruling party.
In the last election, we supported DCM Eknath Shinde, but he also ditched us. It was not expected from Shinde. We helped Shinde erase the black spot of a traitor. But he forgot all our help. Now, we are of the opinion that Uddhav Thackeray was better than Eknath Shinde, at least he never changed his word and given promise,” the Maratha quota activist alleged.