‘Ram & Reservation’ Politics In Maharashtra

Ahead of the much talked about Ayodhya temple inauguration on January 22, the Maratha reservation agitation could turn out to be a spoiler for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra.

Manoj Jarage Patil, leader of the Maratha Quota movement, has threatened an indefinite hunger strike in Mumbai on January 20 in an apparent move to take the wind out of the BJP's plans to exploit the Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration ceremony ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The message is clear. The dominant Marathas, whose population in the state is said to be over 30 per cent, are more concerned about their quota in government jobs and education. The consecration ceremony can wait.

Jarange Patil has emerged as a law unto himself due to his unconventional ways, and the Marathas are eating out of his hands.

Interestingly, other political parties in the state are enjoying the discomfort of the BJP and its allies. They know the politics being played through the Ayodhya event.

Patil, a Maratha youth who hails from Antarwali Sarati village in the Jalna district, has been drawing huge crowds across the state to his demand for inclusion of the Marathas into the Other Backward Category (OBC) which will entitle it to get reservation benefits in the government jobs and education.

Earlier, he undertook two such fasts at Antarwali Sarati compelling the state government to support his demand in a specified time frame.

While the Ayodhya consecration ceremony has become the main campaign theme of the BJP’s Lok Sabha poll, Patil’s proposed action in Mumbai could divert the focus and thus weaken the BJP’s poll plank in Maharashtra, the second crucial state for the BJP after Uttar Pradesh, electorally.

In his recent meetings in different places in Maharashtra, Patil said it will be an “ocean of people” on January 20 and will be “the biggest March ever,” including tractors.

“Now I will fast until death in Mumbai. We will leave from Antarwali Sarati,” he said while urging the people to join the protest peacefully. “If the police stop, don't take any action or agitate, just move ahead peacefully or sit on the road. If they arrest any of our Maratha, just go to the police station and sit outside on the road. Don't agitate or fight with them,” he told his followers.

Patil also appealed to the women to protest outside the houses of MLAs, MPs, and ministers across Maharashtra. The state government has “given only assurances in the name of Maratha reservation but has betrayed the Maratha society,” Patil said.

The BJP is ruling Maharashtra along with the splinter groups of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party. While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (of the Shinde faction) is attending the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, former CM Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena –Uddhav) has not been invited by the organisers.

Reports stated that the BJP plans to live-telecast the grand consecration ceremony of Shri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya at the booth level across the country. The BJP workers have been instructed to set up large screens for the live telecast of the Shri Ram Consecration at the booth levels.

According to the BJP this will enable the common people to witness the consecration of Shri Ram Lala. It is still unclear whether the BJP could whip up a ‘Ram Lahar’ in Maharashtra on January 22. This is because the state’s politics is sharply divided on the reservation issue and this has been reflected in the council of ministers as well.

Senior state cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal has been taking a line contrary to the CM’s stated position on the Maratha quota issue. Bhujbal has been saying that the Maratha community would never get reservations through the OBC quota, which is Patil’s demand. “Jarange is welcomed using 200 JCBs and a convoy of vehicles at his rallies,” Bhujbal said at a public meeting.

Bhujabal who is currently with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, is mobilising OBCs against the inclusion of the Maratha community in it and holding meetings in different parts of the state. He is said to be backed by the BJP because the OBCs have been the vote bank of the BJP and the Shiv Sena before the split in the Bal Thackeray-led party.

If the BJP is cautious about Patil’s demand for the inclusion of the Maratha community in the OBC category, Bhujbal and other OBC leaders in the state have rejected it outright. “The state (government) seems to be helpless,” Bhujbal said.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Sunday warned Patil over his threat to hit the streets in Mumbai from January 20 demanding Kunbi (OBC) status to Marathas, saying that the government will not tolerate anyone trying to break the law.

“Today, with 10 per cent EWS reservation, total reservation has gone up to 62 per cent. Marathas can get reservations in the remaining. Nobody will oppose it. But some people are making extreme demands.

“Talking about reaching Mumbai… we follow the Constitution given to us by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. If anyone tries to take the law into their own hands, it will not be tolerated. Nobody is above the law,” Pawar said, without naming Patil. He was speaking at the party program in neighbouring Kalyan tehsil of Thane district.

It is evident that Maharashtra is witnessing a dangerous cocktail of ‘Ram and Reservation’ and it needs to be seen how things pan out.