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OBC-Maratha Rift Escalates: After Pune Violence, Chhagan Bhujbal's 'Tit For Tat' Warning
A violent episode following a rally led by Chhagan Bhujbal, NCP leader and a minister in the Eknath Shinde cabinet, in Pune district's Indapura on Saturday (December 9) has led to a further escalation in the burning conflict between the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and Maratha community groups in Maharashtra.
Updated Dec 10, 2023 , 11:10 PM IST
Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal speaking at a rally (File Image/Representative)
Photo : Twitter
A violent episode following a rally led by Chhagan Bhujbal, NCP leader and a minister in the Eknath Shinde cabinet, in Pune district's Indapura on Saturday has led to a further escalation in the burning conflict between the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and Maratha groups in Maharashtra.
Gopichand Padalkar, a BJP MLC, had participated in the rally and extended his support. After the rally, Padalkar was on his way to another protest site, when so-called Maratha quota activists allegedly attacked him with shoes and slippers.
Following the incident, minister Chhagan Bhujbal condemned the attack on Padalkar and said that if this doesn't stop, "we will do tit for tat".
The reservation row in Maharashtra is going on for some time now. While Manoj Jarange Patil is fighting for Maratha reservation, Chhagan Bhujbal is mobilising to safeguard the OBC quota. Both leaders are holding rallies across state, which has led to conflict between the two communities.
The OBC community is said to be feeling insecure with Marathas getting reservation in the OBC quota through Kunbi caste certificates issued by government-appointed Justice Shinde Committee for eligible Marathas.
In a recent rally, Bhujbal demanded that the committee be scrapped and the distribution of certificates be stopped. The comment has not gone down well with the Maratha community.
Meanwhile, BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar, who was on the receiving end of Saturday's attack has appealed for peace and clarified his stand. "I am not against the Maratha community's demand for reservation. However, poor Marathas deserve it more."
"But the anti-social elements who have entered the Maratha reservation battle sometimes burn someone's house and sometimes call and abuse someone. From this it is clear that the intention of these anti-social elements is not to get reservation but to spread unrest in the society," he said.
Padalkar condemned the attack on him and appealed that the OBC brothers not protest this incident through violence. “Peace should be maintained in the state. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar has given reservation to Dhangar community. For its proper implementation, we will be holding a warning march in a peaceful manner on the upcoming winter assembly session in Nagpur on 11th December,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chhagan Bhujpal has come out strongly in Padalkar's support. "We are not against the reservation of the Maratha community, we are against these anti-social elements who want to disturb communal harmony. We all strongly condemn this incident against Gopichand Padalkar. If this does not stop, we will respond in similar way," he said in a post on X.
Bhujpal has earlier demanded the scrapping of the Justice Shinde committee and called for a stay on distribution of Kunbi certificates to Marathas. He has also accused his own government of going soft on Maratha activists who allegedly disturbed law and order. He has however maintained that the Maratha community should get separate reservation without changes to the OBC quota.
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