'Maratha community should get reservation': Maharashtra parties back Shinde on quota

Activists are firm on continuing the agitation till the government listens to their demands of providing a blanket reservation to the Maratha community.

The long-standing agitation over the demand for Maratha reservation in Maharasthra turned violent after members of the largest community in the state set houses and offices of MLAs from Maratha community on fire, leading to strengthening the security detail of chief minister Eknath Shinde. A meeting was called on Tuesday following the violence and directed Mumbai Police to step-up security of state ministers and around properties owned by them.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and others chairs the all-party meeting on the Maratha reservation (ANI)

Sources in state police said that tension might escalate in the state in the next few days and it will take a week to defuse the crisis.

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All political parties in the state agreed to extend their support to Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government on giving reservation to the community.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde says,"...In the all-party meeting, everyone agreed that the Maratha community should get reservation...It was decided the reservation should be within the framework of the law and without doing injustice to other communities."

This comes amid Manoj Jarange-Patil, the Maratha quota activist, he threatened to stop drinking water from Wednesday evening if the 'complete' quota was not granted to the Maratha community.

He was displeased by the state cabinet's earlier decision to grant Kunbi caste certificates to the Marathas in the Marathwada region.

1. In an ultimatum to the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, the Maratha activist gave demanded a special session in the state assembly and declare Maratha reservation. "If this is not done, I will quit drinking water from Wednesday evening. The agitation will not stop and will continue peacefully," Jarange-Patil said.
2. The workers' union at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj market yard in Pune has called for the shutdown of the market for one day to show support to Maratha reservation demand by Manoj Jarange Patil.
3. An all-party meeting resolved with a united front to support the state government on providing reservation to the Maratha community.
4. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday alleged that his party MPs and MLAs were not sent an invitation to the all-party meeting called by the Maharashtra government on the Maratha reservation.
5. A total of 99 people have been arrested in connection with the violence in Beed and the situation is currently under control, Maharashtra's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sanjay Saxena said.
6. Maharashtra cabinet minister Hasan Mushrif's SUV parked in south Mumbai was vandalised on Wednesday morning by Maratha quota agitaors. According to police, three persons were detained by the Marine Drive police in this connection.

Why are Maratha quota protestors angry against Maratha politicians?

1. Unlike previous instances, protestors are angry this time against seasoned politicians belonging to the Maratha community across party lines. According to Surendra Jondhale, political commentator and former professor of political science at Mumbai University, there has been a complete disconnect between Maratha leadership and the masses within the community.
2. The Maratha community has over the decades retained its clout in state politics, keeping its share intact in power. If Maharashtra has had more than 60 per cent chief ministers from Marathas, the community has a fair representation in the cabinet or state assembly.
3. Over the years, its politics is shaped with Hindutva and caste at the core. From Yashwantrao Chavan and Vasantdada Patil to Sharad Pawar, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan and Eknath Shinde, the state has had 12 Maratha chief ministers with some serving multiple terms.
4. According to Kumar Saptarshi, former MLA and political observer, as Maratha youth have realised that they have been cheated by their own leaders, the masses are rejecting leadership with agitation.
5. On the economic front, Marathas are a stratified community with lowest at the hierarchy either landless or marginal farmers and mostly from the Marathwada region, the ground zero of ongoing agitation. Manoj Jarange Patil, who has emerged as a prominent face of Maratha agitation, represents the non-establishment class within the community and is enjoying support from youth with no social or political background.