Maharashtra Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) faction leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday dared Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil to challenge the Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation process as recommended by the Mandal Commission in the past, while alleging that lakhs of phoney affidavits were being made in order for the Marathas to get a quota under the OBC category via ‘back door’ methods.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Bhujbal, a prominent OBC leader, censured the frenzied atmosphere of triumphalism that was prevailing among Maratha communities in villages while expressing concern over reports that OBC families were being harassed in the rural hinterland.
“The Marathas [in villages] keep shouting ‘we have won’. And how did they win? By taking OBC Kunbi certificates and entering the OBC category through the back-door. I have heard reports of late-night dancing by such mobs in front of OBC homes. I want to tell the police force that they ought to immediately put a stop to all this,” Mr. Bhujbal said.
