Mumbai: Senior leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and Narayan Rane questioning the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government’s decision to grant OBC quota to the Marathas has not only exposed the opposing views within the ruling parties but also the faultlines of Maharashtra’s ruling coalition.
Shinde had met Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil and assured him about the reservation before the latter called off the third phase of his agitation Saturday, but the CM’s two deputies — Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) — were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, the CM was assisted by BJP ministers, Girish Mahajan (who was involved in negotiations with Jarange Patil earlier) and Mumbai Suburban guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, while no one from the Ajit Pawar camp was seen at the venue in Vashi.
A draft notification was issued by the government stating that blood relatives of a Maratha person, who has records to show that he belongs to the agrarian Kunbi community, would also be recognised as Kunbi. And immediately after the notification, Union minister Narayan Rane lashed out against the government and warned them of “unrest in Maharashtra”.
Rane said he does not agree with the Maharashtra government’s decision to give all benefits enjoyed by the OBCs to Marathas till they get reservation. “It will lead to suppression of the Maratha community that has a historical legacy and it will also be an encroachment on the other backward communities. It could lead to unrest in the state,” he tweeted Sunday.
On the other hand, NCP (Ajit Pawar) minister and OBC leader Chaggan Bhujbal announced that he would take out a mega rally on 3 February to oppose the Maratha “backdoor entry” into the OBC category.
A senior NCP leader told ThePrint that both the BJP and the NCP have a sizable OBC vote bank and going all the way to placate one side would be bad optics. “This is the problem. We can’t be seen taking one side or another, and this is the balancing act that the BJP and our party is doing,” the leader said.
This could explain why BJP’s Maratha leaders Chandrakant Patil and Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who were involved in the Maratha reservation, were not present with the chief minister at Vashi.
On Monday, Rane, who headed the panel on Maratha reservation in 2014 during the Prithviraj Chavan-led coalition government, then made his opposition known again. “The government should think deeply. In Maharashtra, the Maratha community is 32% i.e. 4 crores. All I want to say is that caste, religion and country are more important than any post,” he tweeted.
Precisely, the reason why the BJP and the NCP for most part kept themselves away, the NCP leader quoted above said. “Whenever there will be a fallout of this decision, which it can if it goes into the court, Shinde will be held responsible,” the leader added.
Also Read: What’s the Shinde govt’s ‘sage soyare’ clause that ended Jarange Patil’s Maratha quota agitation
‘Should sit down calmly with CM…’
Shinde’s Shiv Sena colleagues, too, expressed displeasure over how certain NCP and BJP leaders (read, Bhujbal and Rane) are publicly coming out with statements. “Bhujbal and others should sit down calmly with the CM and the deputy CMs. Whatever they are doing does not look good on the government’s image,” a Sena leader told ThePrint.
Apart from the Shiv Sena led by Shinde, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) are part of the Mahayuti alliance.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) took a swipe at the divergent voices coming out from the Shinde-led dispensation. “This decision regarding the Maratha reservation was taken by the CM in front of everyone. But if there is no coordination within the cabinet and ministers are speaking in different languages, then what use is the CM’s word?” senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan told the media Monday in Latur.
Soon, Fadnavis in Nagpur reached out to a miffed Bhujbal saying that he should explain his “objections”. “Our government will not do injustice to the OBCs. I want to tell Bhujbal that he should tell what his objections are and we will work it out. The government is on the same page on this. And so giving reactions from any side be it on OBC or Maratha side is not right. The government’s position is balanced,” the deputy CM told the media.
Cracks out in open
Bhujbal is particularly vocal about his objection to the government giving OBC status to Marathas. “One may think that the Maratha community has won. But I don’t think that is the case. One can’t change rules and laws by mobocracy,” the OBC leader had said Saturday.
He has now asked the members of OBC communities to take out public marches outside tehsil and government offices on 1 February. The mega rally of OBCs at Ahmednagar on 3 February was also announced Sunday.
“Bhujbal is a tall OBC face in our party,” the NCP leader quoted above said. “And hence it is quite natural that he would do his politics.”
However, the Shiv Sena leader quoted above said that it won’t affect the dynamics within the alliance. “When even Fadnavis sahib had said that it won’t affect the OBC community, then they should not have done what they are doing. The likes of Bhujbal should sit down with the CM and both deputy CMs. But it won’t affect the dynamics within the alliance,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)