Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal has called an important meeting of OBC leaders amid activist Manoj Jarange Patil’s movement demanding reservation for the Maratha community. This meeting will be held at 3 pm on Monday in Mumbai. Representatives of Bhujbal -led Samata Parishad and other OBC organizations have been invited to this meeting.
He said that Kalelkar Commission and later the Mandal Commission have not included the Maratha community as backward classes. Bhujbal responded to the criticism of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar not to do anything for the Marathas, saying, “A Chief Minister can implement the recommendations of the Commission, but cannot include any caste on his own will.” Let me tell you that Bhujbal is one of the influential leaders of the OBC community in the politics of Maharashtra.
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He also clarified that the High Court and the Supreme Court have already said that Kunbi and Maratha community are not the same. On the other hand, Manoj Jarange is on indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai since last Friday. He is demanding 10 percent reservation for the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Jarange argues that the Maratha community is economically and socially backward, and on this basis they should get reservation under OBC.
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His demand has created a stir in the politics of Maharashtra, and there has been a fierce debate on this issue among various parties. Manoj Jarange says that the Marathas should be recognized as a farmer caste included in Kunbi, which is a farmer caste in the OBC category, so that they can get the benefit of reservation in government jobs and education. This meeting is expected to decide further strategies on the concerns of the OBC community and the issue of Maratha reservation.
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