All parties remain silent on Maratha reservation in Maharashtra elections.
The state and direction of politics in Maharashtra is determined by the Maratha community. Since 2023, politics in Maharashtra has revolved around the anger, frustration and reservation demands of the Maratha community. By promoting the Maratha reservation movement, Manoj Jalanchi is giving Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a hard time sleep, and ruined the political game of the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP in the Lok Sabha elections. Despite this, the voice of the Maratha reservationists was not heard in the assembly elections, with neither Mahavika Aghadi nor the Mahayutthi Alliance saying anything.
During the campaign in Jalna, the bastion of the Maratha reservation movement, politicians distanced themselves from the issue and focused only on women-centric welfare schemes. While leaders of the BJP-led Mahayutthaya Alliance mentioned the Ladli Brahmin Yojana, leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) were also seen boasting that if they come to power, monthly Rs 3,000 will be provided to women under Mahalaxmi Yojana. In this case, the question arises, what is the reason for both parties to remain silent on the issue of Maratha reservation?
The Sindh government has passed the bill
The Maratha community in Maharashtra has been demanding reservation for a long time, but it has not been implemented so far. Young people from the Maratha community feel that they are falling behind in education and employment due to lack of reservation. Hence, 21-year-old Deepa Bhosale of Maratha community committed suicide. Thereafter, the reservation issue gained such momentum that the entire state of Maharashtra was affected by its political impact. Manoj Jarange went on strike over the demand. The Marathwada and western Maharashtra regions became the center of the Maratha reservation.
As a result of the Maratha movement, the Shinde government passed a bill providing 10% reservation to the Maratha community. Manoj Jarange went on hunger strike in Jalna demanding Maratha quota under Other Backward Classes (OBC). To this end, the Shinde government found a way to retain the Maratha community of the Kunbi caste, but was in trouble due to the dissatisfaction of the OBC community.
Unable to meet booking demand
Shinde has always assured that reservation in Maratha will not have an impact on OBC quota, but due to the narrative of Maratha vs OBC and Dhangar vs Tribal, the demand for reservation cannot be met. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP was completely wiped out in Marathwada and Western Maharashtra (considered the Maratha belt of Maharashtra).
The BJP has not won even one of the eight Lok Sabha seats in Marathwada region and no BJP account has been opened in western Maharashtra. While the BJP suffered losses due to the Maratha reservation movement, the Congress Shiv Sena Party (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP gained political gains. Despite this, neither Mahayuthi nor Maha Vikas Aghadi spoke on the Maratha reservation issue during the assembly elections.
Jarange also remained silent
The Maharashtra assembly election campaign will be suspended in five days. Senior leaders of the Mahayuti and Mahavikas Aghadi alliance went all out in the election campaign but did not see any word about the Maratha reservation. Manoj Jarange, the face of the Maratha movement, announced to field its first candidate in the elections but withdrew his action on the last day of withdrawing his nomination. Even the elders remained silent, the leaders were silent. This is also considered part of Jalanga’s strategy, but the party’s silence is telling a different politics.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has so far addressed two election rallies in Jalana, criticizing Mahavikas Aghadi and Uzbekistan. Uddhav Thackeray, but did not comment on the Maratha or OBC reservation issue. The chief minister did mention the Ladli Brahmin Yojana. Former Union minister Raosaheb Danve, who is facing defeat from the Lok Sabha seat, was seen dodging the reservation issue while campaigning for his son Santosh Danve.
Rahul Gandhi also remains silent on Maratha reservation
Maharashtra Congress unit president Nana Patole avoided talking about the reservation issue at a rally in Jalna. Patole targeted the Mahayut government and its welfare schemes at the rally. Nana Patole was talking about MVA’s welfare schemes, including Mahalaxmi Yojana. NCP(S) Sharad Pawar, while addressing a public meeting in Jalana, also raised the demand for caste census and increased reservation limit but avoided mentioning the Maratha reservation issue.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, who criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during the election campaign, also did not comment on the reservation issue. During his election campaign, Uddhav focused on the MVA’s welfare schemes rather than the Maratha reservation. Rahul Gandhi also demanded a caste census and removal of reservation restrictions but remained silent on Maratha reservations.
The danger of OBC vote fragmentation
The OBC community feels the most insecure due to the Maratha reservation movement in Maharashtra politics. OBC does not want its quota reserved for Marathas. As a result, OBC and Maratha turned against each other. In every village in Maharashtra, a huge gap has emerged between OBCs and Marathas.
The Maratha community and the OBC community even stopped buying goods from each other’s stores. Therefore, powerful OBC leader Chaggan Bhujbal met Sharad Pawar and asked him to work towards bridging the growing gap between Maratha and OBC. Political parties did not raise the Maratha reservation issue in the Maharashtra assembly elections as they feared the risk of fragmentation of OBC votes. The state has about 52% OBC voters, while the population of the Maratha community is about 28%. That is why political parties avoid raising the Maratha reservation issue.
