Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Hardening his stance on the Maratha reservation issue and putting the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government in Maharashtra on spot, senior minister and veteran OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday demanded immediate dissolution of the Shinde Committee and a stay on the process of the issuance of Kunbi certificates.
Over the past fortnight, the position of Bhujbal, a senior NCP leader and state’s Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister, has embarrassed the Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government even as he continued to target Maratha reservation campaigner Manoj Jarange-Patil, albeit without naming him.
However, Bhujbal has maintained that he was not against reservation to Marathas but their backdoor entry into the OBC reservation bracket.
It may be mentioned, the Shinde-government had appointed a high-level Committee headed by Justice Sandeep Shinde (Retd) to decide the procedure for granting Kunbi caste certificates to the Marathas in the Marathwada region. The Kunbi community, a sub-caste of Marathas, would be eligible for reservation in the OBC category.
The Kunbi-Maratha and Marathi-Kunbi certificates would enable them to get reservation in jobs and education and the OBC community fears the dilution of their quota.
According to the claims of Jarange-Patil, 32 lakh records of Kunbi have been found over the past couple of months.
Addressing a mammoth OBC Elgar Mahasabha at Hingoli on Sunday, Bhujbal said, “We will not die, we will fight” amid thunderous applause even as several speakers appealed the attendees to show the strength of the OBC community in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls.
"The only solution is a caste census…if Bihar can do it why cannot Maharashtra…a clear picture would emerge…’doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani ho jayega’,” said Bhujbal, the founder president of Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad, adding that for him what matters most is the welfare and the rights of the community not being an legislator or a minister.
“Our demand is very simple…dissolve the Shinde Committee immediately and put a stay on the issuance of Kunbi certificates,” he said.
He also urged Justice (Retd) Anand Nirgude, the Chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes, who has been asked by the government to identify socially and economically backward Marathas, carry out comparative studies before arriving at conclusions.