Maratha reservation quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil has threatened leaders of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) that Marathas will legally challenge a 1994 government resolution GR, which had granted reservation to OBCs, if they try to block the GR on quota issued by the Fadnavis government for the Marathas of Marathwada.
“If the government listens to certain pressures (from OBC leaders including Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal) and if anything goes wrong, we will challenge the 1994 GR in court which gave our reservation to others. We will not spare anyone then. We will ensure that the 1994 GR is also withdrawn,” he warned the OBC leaders.
Jarange-Patil issued the threat after OBC leader and Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said on Friday that he would move the court against the decision of the Fadnavis government to give OBC Kunbi certificates to Marathas, which would make them eligible for government job reservation quotas.
Jarange-Patil, who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, further said, “Implement the provision of Kunbi certificates to all Marathas in Marathwada, as per the gazette of Hyderabad. Otherwise we will have to take a different stand at the Dussehra gathering organised at Narayangarh on September 17. According to this gazette, if there is a demand for reservation from the Banjara community and Malhar Koli community, the government should also provide benefits to both these communities. Make all officials work 24 hours to implement the Hyderabad Gazette and start issuing Kunbi certificates, or else we will have to take a big decision”.
He also demanded that the Fadnavis government should implement the new GR to issue OBC Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas before September 17, which is Marathwada Liberation Day.
“September 17 is Marathwada Liberation Day. Before that, the government must start issuing Kunbi certificates to Marathas in Marathwada region based on the Hyderabad Gazette. We have appreciated your efforts so far, but we should not be made to feel that this is merely a show of goodwill. I request the government to ensure that this process starts before September 17, and there should be no changes in it,” Jarange-Patil said.