On Thursday, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange gave a stern warning to the ruling parties and said that in case Maratha people are not given the reservations, they will ensure that they bite the dust in the next elections. Speaking to newspaper reporters in a hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where he was recuperating following a five-day hunger strike in Mumbai, Jarange emphasised that the complete Marathi people should be incorporated under the Other Backwards Classes (OBC) bracket.
Jarange called off his hunger strike on Tuesday, when the Maharashtra government declared it would establish a committee to award Kunbi caste certificates to members of the Marathas with historical roots demonstrating Kunbi ancestry. The Kunbis are considered to be OBCs in Maharashtra, and it is likely that the move will open the gateway to the inclusion of Marathas as a quota.
But Jarange warned the government that it should not delay. “Unless the Hyderabad and Satara gazettes are introduced within a month, we will reduce them (ruling parties) to a dust heap in the coming elections. Gradually, I will see to it that the whole community of the Maratha is brought under the umbrella of the OBC category,” he claimed.
The activist emphasised that his fight is on behalf of Marathas in all parts of Maharashtra. Emphasising the situation of people in the Konkan belt, he remarked that the agitation will go on till the Marathas in the region also receive reservation benefits. Failure to achieve rights now by the Konkan Marathas will come to haunt them 40-50 years later. He said they should not let themselves get robbed by thinking about future generations.
Reacting to the offer of the state government to establish a cabinet sub-committee on OBC welfare, Jarange said he was happy with the move but demanded the establishment of similar committees for Dalits, Muslims, tribals, and farmers.
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