Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange says OBC stir 'vindictive', asserts Marathas to seek quota in OBC category

Manoj Jarange/ PTI

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, on Tuesday, described the ongoing agitation by Other Backward Classes (OBC) activists to protect their quota as "vindictive" and said that Marathas would seek reservation under the OBC category.

Speaking to the reporters, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange asserted that the OBC protest would help unify the Maratha community in their demand for reservation, stated PTI.

In Photos: People in Mumbai and Thane queue up early at polling booths

6 months agoPHOTO GALLERY

As per the PTI report, activists Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare have been on hunger strike in Wadigodri village, Jalna district, since June 13, demanding assurances from the government that the Maratha reservation request will not damage the OBC quota.

In February, the Maharashtra legislature passed a bill granting a 10 per cent reservation for Marathas in education and government jobs under a separate category. Jarange has been advocating for the recognition of Kunbis as "sage soyare" (blood relatives) of Marathas and for legislation to identify Kunbis as Marathas, the report added.

According to the PTI report, Kunbis, an agrarian group, are classified under the OBC category. Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange has been demanding that Kunbi certificates be issued to all Marathas, making them eligible for quota benefits. On 13 June, Jarange suspended his indefinite fast over the Maratha quota and set a one-month deadline for the Maharashtra government to meet the community's demands.

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, speaking from a private hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar where he is receiving treatment, Jarange said, "The ongoing OBC agitation is vindictive. We will not intensify our agitation because of them, but we will secure reservation from the OBC category, and that too from the current quota of 50 per cent."

He, as per the news agency report, noted that OBC activists were agitating despite already having a reservation. "How much more should we fight when we don't have any? This agitation will help the Maratha community forget their differences and unite for the quota," he said.

"We have given one month to the government to fulfil our demands, and there should be no division between the OBC and Maratha communities," Jarange further told the news agency.

Hake and Waghmare have clarified that they are not against Maratha reservation but insist that it should not impact the OBC quota. They have called for the government to scrap the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as the "sage soyare" of Marathas, reported PTI.