OBC leaders firm on Oct 10 grand march as talks fail

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis struggled to reassure OBC leaders about Maratha reservations, facing protests and demands for a white paper on caste certificates.

MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday had a hard time convincing leaders of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) that steps taken by the Mahayuti government to provide reservation to Marathas with Kunbi antecedents would not impact the quota of existing OBC communities.

OBC leaders firm on Oct 10 grand march as talks fail

However, OBC leaders from ruling parties including ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Pankaja Munde, as well as opposition parties, insisted that the state withdraw its September 2 government resolution (GR), on Marathas with Kunbi antecedents as mentioned in the Hyderabad Gazette. They also demanded a white paper on caste certificates issued since 2014.

Since the government did not respond to these demands, OBC leaders said they would go ahead with their grand march in Nagpur on October 10.

The issue of granting OBC status to Marathas with Kunbi antecedents resurfaced last month, with the hunger strike by Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil in Mumbai. To end the impasse, the state government issued a GR promising the implementation of the Hyderabad (1909) and Satara (1884) gazettes, to facilitate Kunbi certificates for eligible Marathas. This would provide them reservations under the OBC category as Kunbis (farmers) are classified as OBCs.

The move triggered unrest among the existing OBC community, who believe they will have to share their reservation quota with lakhs of Marathas, who would be declared OBC. To protest this, OBC leader and group leader of the Congress in the legislative assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, announced a protest march on October 10.

To defuse a potential conflagration, Fadnavis convened a meeting on Saturday. Deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and ministers from the OBC community like Chhagan Bhujbal, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Pankaja Munde and Atul Save, and others from the opposition, such as Vijay Wadettiwar and MLA Vikas Thakre participated.

Bhujbal took an aggressive stand and asked the government whether the state law and judiciary department had delivered its opinion on the September 2 GR. BJP leader and environment minister Pankaja Munde said a white paper was in order as there were complaints against Kunbi caste certificates issued in the past.

Wadettiwar accused the government of fuelling tension between Marathas and OBCs in Marathwada, where villagers have begun boycotting members of the opposite community. “The way caste certificates have been issued will affect OBC representation in local body elections,” alleged Wadettiwar.

Under fire, Fadnavis said the government had little choice but to use the Hyderabad Gazette as the basis to issue Kunbi certificates. He pointed out that Marathwada was under the erstwhile Nizam’s rule, and there was no other authentic historical evidence on the population in this region, besides the Hyderabad Gazette.

In an apparent move to placate the OBC community, Fadnavis said that this month alone, the government had approved ₹1,500 crore for welfare schemes for the community. He also assured that every scheme approved for the Martha community’s development corporation could be availed by the OBC community.

Finally, he urged OBC leaders to cancel their October 10 march, but his plea went unheeded.