Chhagan Bhujbal recently reiterated his point that the Maratha community cannot be given reservation from the OBC quota. He also reiterated his demand for conducting caste-based census in the state.
At the same time, senior OBC leader and Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said that Marathas cannot be given reservation from the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) community.
He reiterated his demand for caste census in the state. Chhagan Bhujbal said, “Maratha community cannot be given reservation from OBC quota. We are not saying this, but the last four commissions have said the same thing regarding reservation. Even the Supreme Court has rejected it.”
The state minister, citing the protest of Maratha activist Manoj Jarange, said that now again reservation is being demanded from OBC (quota). Chhagan Bhujbal said that caste-based census in the state will pave the way for the OBC community to get more money.
The striking OBC workers are demanding the cancellation of the state government’s draft notification, which recognizes Kunbis as “Rishi Soyare” (blood relatives) of Maratha community members. Bhujbal further said that he had shown the state assembly how Kunbi records were being tampered with.
After the hunger strike agitators met the government delegation, the senior OBC leader clarified that Marathas cannot be given OBC reservation. He said that caste census should be done in the state.
Two OBC activists Laxman Hek and Navnath Waghmare have been on a hunger strike since June 13. On Monday, a government delegation met both of them.
They urged both of them to end the hunger strike and also requested them to drink water. But both the agitators refused. The agitators say that they are not against reservation for Marathas, but this should not affect the OBC quota.
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