The renewed agitation for a Maratha quota, which intensified after a hunger strike by pro-quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, has forced the Eknath Shinde-led government to expedite the process of granting reservation to the Marathas.
However, Mr. Jarange-Patil’s insistence that the Marathas be given Kunbi Other Backward Class (OBC) caste certificates has provoked strident counter protests from the OBC community, who are fearful of the Marathas eating benefits from their 19% reservation pie.
The Maratha agitation and the OBC counter-agitations come at a time when the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is politically vulnerable in Maharashtra, struggling to maintain harmony between its fractious coalition allies – the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s rebel Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction – and keep its core OBC voter base intact.
