The Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government’s move to implement the Hyderabad Gazette and defuse the latest Maratha quota protest led by activist Manoj Jarange-Patil seems to have triggered fresh troubles for the government, which is now facing renewed reservation rows involving other communities from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
While some backward class groups fear that the inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category would eat into their share of reservation, the protesters from the Dhangar (shepherd) community have cited the Hyderabad Gazette to reinforce its demand for inclusion in the ST category.
Similarly, Banjaras – currently classified under the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) group availing 3.5% quota under the OBC category – have sought the ST status, a move opposed by tribal outfits.
“If the government can fulfil the reservation demands of others (Marathas), why is it overlooking the demand of the Dhangar community?” asked Mahadev Jankar, chief of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh (RSP), an NDA ally that draws its support mainly from the community, which makes up around 9% of the state’s population and is seen to be influential in western and northern Maharashtra.
Dhangar leaders point out that the BJP had promised to include their community in the ST category in its manifesto for the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls. “Ten years have gone by and no initiative has been taken in this regard,” Jankar said, warning the Fadnavis government of “serious ramifications” if their demand is not met.
The Koli community – with various sub-groups like Mahadev Koli, Koli, Malhar Koli – has also demanded its inclusion among the STs, citing its mention in the Hyderabad Gazette and questioning “multiple reservations” for Marathas. Accounting for a 25-lakh population, Kolis are concentrated in Nashik, Ahmednagar, Pune districts in Maharashtra.
A Banjara outfit Gor Sena’s president Sandesh Chavan said the community had enjoyed the ST status in the erstwhile Hyderabad state, demanding that it must be “immediately included” in the ST list.
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According to the 2011 Census, Banjaras, who number around one crore in the state, are concentrated in Washim, Yavatmal and Beed districts, and are said to be the BJP’s supporters.
However, the Fadnavis government’s bigger worry stems from the point that various backward class outfits see the Hyderabad Gazette as a “backdoor entry” for Marathas into the OBC category. Some of Fadnavis’ own ministers have publicly voiced concerns in this regard.
State minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, a vocal critic of Jarange-Patil, has called the government’s Hyderabad Gazette decision to extend the Kunbi status to Marathas of Marathwada “a dangerous attempt to undermine the OBC quota”.
“Ad hoc issuance of Kunbi certificates to Marathas across the state will become a reality and facilitate their entry into the OBC quota. How will the over 350 OBC communities, which are socially, educationally and financially weaker, survive? We do not support their inclusion into the OBC category,” Bhujbal said.
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BJP leader and state minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who heads the Cabinet sub-committee on the OBC quota issue, has also expressed concerns over the implementation of the Hyderabad Gazette.
To end Jarange-Patil’s agitation, the Mahayuti government decided to issue a Government Resolution (GR), allowing Marathas whose family trees and lineage can be established through the Hyderabad Gazette, to obtain the Kunbi caste certificates, making them eligible for OBC reservation.
The Hyderabad Gazette, a 1918 document, was compiled after the then Nizam-ruled Hyderabad state ordered information on caste, religion, occupation, and landholdings to be collected from all 17 districts under its jurisdiction. Five of these districts – Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (then Aurangabad), Parbhani, Beed, Nanded and Dharashiv (then Osmanabad) – fall in present-day Marathwada in Maharashtra.
The GR has further fuelled the row between the OBC and Maratha groups, who had already been on a collision course after the 2017-2018 Maratha agitation when rifts between them had surfaced at the village and taluka levels.
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“The state government is surrendering to Marathas because they resort to aggressively pushing their demands, while the OBCs are often overlooked as they lack political patronage,” an OBC leader told The Indian Express.
With OBC activists taking to the streets in western Maharashtra and Marathwada, and threatening to intensify protests, Maratha leaders are also under pressure. NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar, who belongs to the Maratha community, accused the government of “weakening the social fabric of the state by trying to widen the divide in society”.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar said all political players were “exploiting the reservation plank for power”. “In the name of finding solutions, the government has further complicated things. They have managed to antagonise both Marathas and OBCs by sowing the seeds of unrest through the reservation card,” he alleged.
Fadnavis, however, defended the move, saying the GR was issued to ensure justice for “each and every community.” “The Hyderabad Gazette will be implemented only after thorough scrutiny, and only eligible Marathas will be granted Kunbi status. The OBC quota will not be compromised at any cost,” he said.