Amid intensifying Maratha-Other Backward Classes (OBC) tensions against the backdrop of the Maratha quota stir, Maharashtra Minister and prominent other OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday demanded the government scrap the Justice Shinde Committee set-up to expedite the process of granting reservation to Marathas, while remarking that the Maratha community could not ride roughshod over the OBCs.
Addressing a packed rally of OBC and Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) communities at Hingoli district, Mr. Bhujbal, spearheading his community’s attack against Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, demanded the Maharashtra government conduct a comprehensive caste-based survey along the lines of Bihar before including the Marathas under the OBC Kunbi category as demanded by Mr. Jarange-Patil.
“The State government should scrap the Justice Sandeep Shinde Committee as it has no constitutional basis given that the Supreme Court [in May 2021] has already struck down the Maratha quota law,” Mr. Bhujbal, the Food and Civil Supplies Minister and a senior member of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction, said.
