OBC activist Laxman Hake takes spotlight in Jalna as counter to Jarange-Patil

Politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties are going all out with their conciliatory efforts towards the OBC activist

Mumbai: To counter the meteoric rise of Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil the bloc of Other Backward Class (OBC) community has found its own leader. The 46-year-old former professor of Fergusson College, Pune, Laxman Hake, has been on an indefinite hunger strike for the last eight days, seeking assurance from the state government that in allowing reservation in academia and employment to the Maratha community, the OBC quota will not be touched.

OBC activist Laxman Hake has been on an indefinite hunger strike for the last eight days, in Wadigodri village, Jalna. (Santosh Bhutekar)

As the issue of reservation has been on the centrestage in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties are going all out with their conciliatory efforts towards the OBC activist. On Thursday, chief minister Eknath Shinde said a delegation will be sent to meet Hake on Friday. Shinde’s assurance came after senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar met Hake at Wadigodri village, in Ambad tehsil, Jalna district. He called the CM from the site of agitation with a request to send a government delegation to look into the demands of the protestors.

“Ask Hake to take care of his health. The state government has ensured that the OBC quota will not be touched. The reservation for the OBC community exists and will remain so in the future,” said Shinde on Thursday.

The activist, who is surviving only on water, told HT, “I will not withdraw my hunger strike till the state gives me in writing that the OBC reservation will not be affected by any means.”

After Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil’s hunger strike, Jalna has become the crucible of protests. Wadigodri is approximately four kilometers from Antarwali Sarathi village, from where the Maratha activist led the stir from August, 2023.

Earlier on Wednesday, given Hake’s deteriorating health, people from the OBC community observed a bandh at Ambad city in his support. They also blocked the Dhule-Solapur Highway twice.

Laxman Hake belongs to the Dhangar community, and hails from Jujarpur village, in Sangola tehsil, in Solapur district. After attaining a Masters degree in Marathi literature from Fergusson College, in 2003, he worked as a professor in the college for the next five years. Before taking up higher studies, he worked as a sugarcane cutter. His wife Vidya is a professor at VIT college, Pune.

In January 2021, Hake was appointed one of the nine members of the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC), after the OBC reservation was struck down for local body elections by the Supreme Court. He subsequently resigned from the position in December last year, along with two other members, alleging interference from the state government over preparing a report to provide reservation to the Maratha community.

He also nurtures political ambitions – he had contested the state assembly elections from Sangola constituency as a Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) candidate against Shiv Sena’s Shahajibapu Patil and secured only 267 votes in 2019. In August 2022, he joined Shiv Sena (UBT) but chose to contest the recently concluded elections from Madha constituency as an independent candidate even when Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, of NCP (SP) was contesting from the seat as an MVA candidate. Hake bagged 5,134 votes only.

In 2019, he formed an outfit called OBC Sangharsh Sena, to fight for the community and held several agitations. “I want to tell my OBC brothers and sisters that Mahatma Phule, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and Babasaheb Ambedkar will not return to save your reservation. We have to do it on our own by coming together,” Hake said recently while on protest.

Jarange-Patil has alleged that Hake’s protest was state sponsored. It is a ploy by the state government, he said, that is looking to buy time to fulfil the Maratha demand of ‘Sage-Soyare’ notification. Hake, on the other hand, said Jarange-Patil held meetings to ensure the defeat of OBC leaders like Pankaja Munde and Mahadev Jankar in the LS elections.

Meanwhile, the state government is caught in a tug-of-war – it is treading cautiously as OBCs are considered BJP’s traditional vote bank, but does wish to displease an already irked Maratha community, which has consolidated its forces against the ruling Mahayuti, especially BJP.

“On one hand, the state government says OBC quota will not be impacted and on the other, Jarange-Patil claims the Maratha community has already entered into OBC quota. Who is right and who is wrong? This has created an unease among the OBC community regarding the reservation,” said Hake, adding between 400 to 450 gram panchayats have passed resolutions supporting his demands.

Mrudul Nile, professor in the department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai, said Hake’s ascendancy is BJP’s ploy to consolidate the OBC votes by implementing the ‘Madhav’ formula, to counter the Marathas. ‘Madhav’ is an acronym of the Mali, Dhangar and Vanjari communities.

“The results of the elections indicate that the Maratha community was against BJP and Jarange-Patil played an important role in it. If BJP succeeds in consolidating OBC voters, it can help them compensate the damage caused by the Maratha community,” said Nile.

Interestingly, prominent leaders from all three communities — Mali, Dhangar and Vanjari – are with Mahayuti allies, noted Nile. Chhagan Bhujbal (Mali), who has been at the forefront of OBC agitation until now, is with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, Gopichand Padalkar (Dhangar) and Panjaka Munde (Vanjari) are with the BJP.

The ‘Madhav’ formula was implemented by late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, and others, to attract OBCs in the BJP in Maharashtra.