A rift in the Maharashtra Cabinet has now emerged with Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who is a Maratha, asking his colleague and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Chhagan Bhujbal to effectively shut up.
Bhujbal is the face of the OBC community and he is spearheading a campaign to ensure that its share of reservation in government jobs and education is not disturbed by including Marathas in the OBC category.
Vikhe-Patil has asked Bhujbal not to go ahead with his pro-OBC agitation. However, Bhujbal is firm on his stand that the OBC quota will not allowed to be tampered with to accommodate the Marathas. In fact, he has upped the ante by stating that he was willing to step down from the Cabinet if required.
This statement has complicated matters for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is already facing violent protests by both Marathas and OBCs in several parts of the state.
Bhujbal is also Jarange-Patil's target
Manoj Jarange-Patil, who has emerged as a leader of the Maratha community, too, has politically attacked Bhujbal for refusing to water down his position. Jarange-Patil is telling his community people to come out in the open “because if not now, then they will never get reservation”.
The activist has already sought to widen the scope of his agitation by tying up with Jat leaders of north India. He has set December 24 as the deadline for the Shinde government to grant reservation to Marathas. Jarange-Patil is currently on a whirlwind tour of the state to mobilise Marathas, specially young people, and his speeches are receiving good traction everywhere.
CM treading carefully
Shinde, who is also a Maratha, is treading cautiously. He is trying to appease the Kunbi Marathas by including them in the OBC list. However, this is being stoutly resisted by Bhujbal and other OBC leaders.
The central leadership of the BJP is currently busy fighting assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and other states. Indications are that after the results are announced on December 3 the leadership will take up the current crisis in Maharashtra on priority basis and set the house in order.
Maharashtra has 48 seats in the Lok Sabha and the party cannot permit the situation in the state to deteriorate further.
