Prakash Ambedkar launches yatra in Maharashtra to 'save' OBC quota

Prakash Ambedkar`s yatra comes in the wake of the ongoing agitation by the Maratha community for reservation in jobs and education under OBC category. File pic

Prakash Ambedkar launches yatra in Maharashtra to 'save' OBC quota

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on Thursday embarked on a yatra to "save" the reservation of the Other Backward Classes and sought the scrapping of 55 lakh Kunbi caste certificates, which he termed as "bogus". The yatra comes in the wake of the ongoing agitation by the Maratha community for reservation in jobs and education under the OBC category.

The 'Aarakshan Bachao Yatra' began after paying respect to India's first law minister Dr B R Ambedkar at his memorial Chaityabhoomi in Dadar. Prakash Ambedkar is Dr B R Ambedkar's grandson.

The yatra will culminate at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in central Maharashtra on August 7, stated VBA state vice-president Siddharth Mokale.

"The yatra has been undertaken to save the reservation of OBCs and demand the scrapping of 55 lakh bogus Kunbi caste certificates issued in the past one year," Mokale stated.

According to the news agency PTI, he was referring to the Kunbi certificates issued by the government authorities to Marathas after the community's leader Manoj Jarange launched an agitation demanding reservation.

Members of the Maratha community who receive Kunbi certificates will be eligible for quota benefits under the OBC category in government jobs and education. The agrarian Kunbi community gets quota benefits under the Other Backward Classes category.

Mokale said the purpose of the yatra is to send 100 OBC legislators to the Maharashtra assembly, for which elections are due in October. He added that VBA will also demand doubling of scholarships given to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.

The yatra is expected to halt at Mahatma Phule Wada in Pune and Naigaon in Satara district, which is the birthplace of social reformer Savitribai Phule.

VBA was initially a member of the Opposition INDIA bloc, but parted ways with it over seat-sharing arrangement and contested the recent Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra independently.

Strategy for assembly polls will be announced on Aug 29: Jarange

The strategy regarding the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections will be declared on August 29, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange said in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Thursday.

He claimed that he and his followers will support any political party or leader who champions the cause of reservation for the Maratha community, the PTI reported.

Jarange was speaking to reporters at a private hospital where he is undergoing treatment after his latest hunger strike for reservation.

"We will declare our strategy of contesting the assembly elections on August 29, and a meeting will be held for this. We will field our own candidates, and also stand with those who will give us in writing that they support Maratha reservation. It doesn't matter what caste and community they belong to," stated Jarange.

(With PTI inputs)