Shinde and BJP placate Marathas on quota issue but OBCs left unhappy, talk of protests

By reaching an agreement with Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has not only succeeded in ending an agitation with the potential of paralysing Mumbai and causing his government problems but has also raised his stature among the dominant community.

This will be politically significant for the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena led by Shinde, BJP, and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls later this year as Marathas constitute 33% of the population. Since Maharashtra’s formation in 1960, 12 of its 20 Chief Ministers, including incumbent Eknath Shinde, have been Marathas. But the division of land holdings and agrarian distress have, over the years, led to a decline in the prosperity of middle and lower-middle-class Marathas, creating the circumstances that have led to the demand for reservation.

Late on Friday, Shinde sent a team of officials with a draft ordinance conceding Jarange-Patil’s demand on issuing Kunbi caste certificates to the “sage-soyare”, a Marathi term that refers to relatives, family, kin, and relations through marriage, lineage, or ancestral. For instance, if there is evidence to show that a person’s grandfather had a Kunbi caste certificate they and their children will be entitled to Kunbi status.

This will presumably make it easier for the government to extend Kunbi certificates to Marathas, thereby bringing them under the Other Backward Class (OBC) ambit. On Saturday morning, Shinde and Jarange-Patil held a joint public rally in Navi Mumbai, with the Maratha quota activist declaring the end of his protest and breaking fast.

But the government has to tread carefully now given that OBC groups are