Shinde placates Marathas, Fadnavis pacifies OBCs, Ajit maintains a low profile

Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil called off his 17-day indefinite hunger strike only after CM Shinde visited him on Thursday. The visit of the CM and two deputy CMs was the precondition put forth by the activist for withdrawing his strike, and was scheduled to take place a day earlier. Ajit Pawar was supposed to accompany Shinde to Jalna, but cancelled at the last minute

Mumbai: As the two-week-old stalemate over the Maratha reservation issue continued in the state, chief minister Eknath Shinde emerged as the leader safeguarding the interest of the community while his two deputies strategically kept themselves away from the issue. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis surprisingly avoided visiting the agitators in Jalna on Saturday despite being at the state cabinet meeting which was held just 70 km away, while Ajit Pawar categorically maintained silence on the entire issue.

Jalna, Sept 14 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde meets Manoj Jarange Patil, who is on a hunger strike to protest for the Maratha reservation, at Antarwali-Sarati, in Jalna on Thursday. (ANI Photo) (CMO Maharashtra Twitter)

Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil called off his 17-day indefinite hunger strike only after CM Shinde visited him on Thursday. The visit of the CM and two deputy CMs was the precondition put forth by the activist for withdrawing his strike, and was scheduled to take place a day earlier. Ajit Pawar was supposed to accompany Shinde to Jalna, but cancelled at the last minute.

On Saturday, Shinde and his two deputies were in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, just 70 km away from Antarvali-Sarati village where Jarange-Patil has continued his protest, but neither Fadnavis nor Pawar visited the agitators. Fadnavis, in fact, visited agitators from the OBC community in Nagpur over 400 km from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and assured them that their share of reservation would not be touched. The OBC outfits are protesting against the government’s decision to award Kunbi certificates (in the OBC category) to Marathas from Marathwada.

While Fadnavis’ move has surprised many in political circles, a Shinde faction Shiv Sena leader justified the move. “Fadnavis kept away from the issue for a couple of reasons,” he said. “First, he is being held responsible for the lathi charge on Maratha protesters on September 1, after which Jarange-Patil criticised him very harshly. Secondly, the government’s decision to award Kunbi certificates to Marathas has rattled OBCs, which comprise the traditional BJP vote bank. The party’s success in Vidarbha is mainly dependent on this vote bank. It was natural for Fadnavis to side with OBCs.”

Ajit Pawar, from Day One, distanced himself from the protests. “Despite being a Maratha leader, Ajit chose to keep a low profile on this issue,” said an Ajit faction NCP leader. “This is because he cannot hurt other communities, including Dhangars, who are in huge numbers in his constituency Baramati. Also, Ajit is a politician who does not like to be seen as bowing down to the irrational conditions put forth by the protesters. He is believed to be of the opinion that Jarange-Patil arm-twisted the government after the lathi charge.”

Insiders also believe that maintaining a balance between communities was a ruling alliance strategy. “Shinde emerged as the saviour of the Marathas after his intervention, especially after he visited Jarange-Patil and made him call off the hunger strike,” said the NCP leader. “On the other hand, Fadnavis tried to woo OBCs. It could be an understanding between the two ruling parties which will go to polls as an alliance. This way it could be beneficial to both of them.”

Mumbai-based political analyst Hemant Desai agreed that it could be a strategic move before the elections. However, he felt that both the deputy chief ministers staying away from the protest could play out in favour of the chief minister. ““The entire issue was handled by Shinde himself right from the beginning,” he said. “Perhaps he wanted to grab all the credit and reinforce that he is the real leader of the Marathas. At the same time, the BJP cannot afford to lose OBC support, and hence Fadnavis chose to visit the OBC protesters instead of the Maratha ones.”

Chandrakant Bavkar, working president of the OBC Janmorcha said that Fadnavis could have met OBC protesters in Nagpur because the majority of OBC communities were with the BJP.

Shiv Sena parliamentary party leader Rahul Shewale has said that the Sena will push for reservation for the Maratha and Dhangar communities. The issue was raised by him at an all-party meeting under the chairmanship of Rajnath Singh before the special session of Parliament.

“Our leader and CM Eknath Shinde is quite positive about reservation for Marathas,” said Shewale. “He is pursuing the case, and the Centre must help us. At the meeting, I said that total reservation for OBCs needed to be increased by 10 per cent so that the OBC quota is not touched. It will be easier thus to give reservation to Marathas, and the Centre must table a proposal on this.” Shewale said that other states also wanted reservation for other communities, and added that his government was also positive about reservation for Dhangars.