BJP, Congress hold protests across Maharashtra for OBC quota

Demanding restoration of the 27% political reservation for the OBC (Other Backward Class) community in local government bodies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) resorted to ‘chakka jam’ (road blockade) and ‘jail bharo’ (voluntary arrest) protests at various places on Saturday.

The Congress, too, held state-wide protests against the BJP-led Central government, blaming it for the Supreme Court’s decision to quash OBC reservation. The party alleged that the Centre did not provide census data, which led to the quashing of the quota.

OBCs are on the verge of losing their political reservation in all local bodies across the state after the Apex court in a verdict directed the Maharashtra government to appoint a dedicated commission for collecting empirical data and fix the reservation of the community based on it. No seat can be reserved for the community in the upcoming local bodies until the state completes the entire process.

The BJP held protests at many places, including Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nagpur, which saw the participation of all senior state leaders from the party. Former BJP minister Ashish Shelar and others were detained by the police for holding a road blockade at Mulund toll naka.

Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was detained briefly by the police after he held a protest in Nagpur. While addressing a gathering, he said, “OBC reservation was abolished owing to the incompetence of the state government. Despite that, the MVA (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi) government is blaming the Narendra Modi-led BJP government in the Centre. If elected back to power, I’ll ensure that the reservation is restored or else will retire from politics.”

He was responding to the claims made by the Congress that the Centre is not providing census data which led to the situation.

On Friday, the Congress had released a letter written by Fadnavis on August 1, 2019 – during his tenure as CM – to NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar, asking the latter to direct officials to provide district-level data of Maharashtra with geographical identification particulars, caste category and names.

At a protest in Thane, Leader of Opposition in legislative Council Pravin Darekar has alleged that state minister Chhagan Bhujbal failed to provide justice to the OBC community in Maharashtra. Around 150 BJP workers staged rasta roko (road blockade) at Anand Nagar toll naka on Saturday morning. Later the local police dispersed the crowd.

“Bhujbal claims to be the leader of the OBC community. But he has failed in meeting their demands despite being part of the cabinet. He should submit his resignation as they [the state government] have failed to safeguard the reservation for OBCs, among many things, forcing the BJP to go into protest mode. The failure of the state government is evident in the issue of Maratha reservation as well,” said Darekar.

In Navi Mumbai and Panvel, the BJP held chakka jam.

Legislator Prashant Thakur said, “The state government has failed totally on all fronts. It has an agenda and is working accordingly to deny us our rights. There is no justice even for OBCs. The state has failed to get the legal order for reservations and announced elections.”

Congress held protests at Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Nanded, among other places. Senior Congress leader Chandrakant Handore, who was leading a protest in Mumbai, said, “The Central government didn’t provide empirical data to the Supreme Court deliberately when BJP was in power. Now OBC reservation has been quashed, and only the Modi-led Central government is responsible for this.”

The Navi Mumbai unit of the party held protests at Congress Bhavan in Vashi as well as its Nerul office.

Indian National Trade Union Congress’ (INTUC) Navi Mumbai president Ravindra Sawant said, “Had the Central government given the census data required, the Supreme Court would not have quashed the OBC reservation quota in local bodies.”

Darekar has slammed the Congress for protesting. “I am surprised that the Congress is also protesting, aren’t they a part of MVA? They can take up the issue in the Parliament. All that the Congress is doing is drama through these protests,” he said.

Meanwhile, an all-party OBC brainstorming meeting has also been called by Congress leader and state minister Vijay Wadettiwar in Pune Saturday. Bhujbal, while addressing the meeting, said, “Empirical data is absolutely necessary to resolve the issue of OBC reservation. It is not anyone’s personal property. The Central government should immediately provide the data as it is difficult for the state to collect it during the pandemic.”

(With inputs from Ankita G Menon, G Mohiuddin Jeddy)