Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government-appointed committee has found 32 lakh cases where the term 'Kunbi' is mentioned in old documents related to the Maratha community, Maratha reservation campaigner Manoj Jarange-Patil said on Wednesday.
“Let me tell you... as of yesterday, 32 lakh records have been found,” Jarange-Patil said, addressing a rally in Igatpuri in the Nashik district.
The Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government has appointed a committee headed by Justice Sandeep Shinde (Retd) to decide the procedure for granting Kunbi caste certificates to the Marathas in the Marathwada region.
The Kunbi community, a sub-caste of Marathas, would be eligible for reservation in the OBC category once a nod is given. The records are being verified at the district levels.
“I am now sure, we would get reservation…which, in fact, has been denied to us for 70 years,” he said.
During the state-wide tour, Jarange-Patil, without naming state Food and Civil Supplies Minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, lashed out at him for opposing the move of the government.
“I know where you used to sell vegetables, whose bungalows you have grabbed, what all you did in Mumbai, which movies and dramas you acted in,” Jarange-Patil said, also referring to the Maharashtra Sadan scam.