Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told media persons here on Thursday that he has convinced OBC leader and Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal that the reservation quota for OBCs is intact and that the recent government resolution (GR) issued after Maratha quota agitator Manoj-Jarange Patil’s protest in Mumbai recently is a “general GR of evidence”.
“Chhagan Bhujbal has not left the cabinet. I have had discussions with him. I have assured him that the GR we have issued will not have any impact on the OBC community’s quota, since it is a GR that acknowledges evidence in the Hyderabad Gazette. We will remove all doubts in Bhujbal’s mind and the minds of others as well. The OBCs also know that as long as this state exists, there will be no injustice to OBCs. No community’s quota will be taken away and given to another community. We will never make two communities fight each other,” Fadnavis said.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has formed a cabinet sub-committee to expedite socio-economic, educational welfare measures for OBCs. The sub-committee, which has two members from every party comprising the Mahayuti alliance government and includes nine members, is headed by state Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule of the BJP.
Significantly, the 77-year-old Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is from the Mali OBC community and the founder president of All India Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad, is also a member of the cabinet sub-committee for OBCs. On Wednesday, Bhujbal had boycotted the state cabinet meeting, protesting that he was not informed about the decision of the Fadnavis government to issue a GR after Jarange-Patil’s protest.
Even before the Fadnavis government accepted the demands of Manoj Jarange-Patil, Bhujbal had asserted that Marathas and Kunbis are not the same, and there are judgments delivered by the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court to support his claim. Bhujbal had also stated that he plans to challenge the GR issued by the Fadnavis government in court.
In a related development, the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, which represents OBCs, ended its six-day-old protest in Nagpur after Maharashtra State OBC Welfare Minister Atul Save met them on Thursday and assured them that the reservation quota of OBCs “will remain untouched”.
Earlier, the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh had launched a relay hunger strike at the Samvidhan Chowk in Nagpur on August 30, a day after activist Manoj Jarange began his indefinite fast at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. The Rashtriya OBC Sangh had been protesting against the inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category.
The Rashtriya OBC Sangh had also made 14 demands, including non-inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category and no blanket issuance of OBC Kunbi certificates to all Marathas.
Addressing the Rashtriya OBC Sangh protesters on Thursday, State OBC Welfare Minister Atul Save said, “The OBC quota will remain untouched. The government is fully committed to protecting the existing reservation of the OBCs.” He said the government has reached a consensus on Maratha reservation without disturbing the OBC quota.
Save also assured the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh that 12 out of their 14 demands will be considered by the government, while the remaining two demands too would be taken up at a meeting in Mumbai next week.