Devendra Fadnavis(L), Chhagan Bhujbal (R).
Credit: PTI Photos
Mumbai: Hardening stance of the Other Backward Classes community, MoS and veteran leader Chhagan Bhujbal shot off a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The letter sought the withdrawal of the September 2, 2025 GR or urged removing ambiguities to avoid a chaotic situation in Maharashtra.
A member of NCP (Ajit Pawar), the veteran politician has written an eight-page letter to Fadnavis in his capacity as the President of Akhil Bharatiya Mahatma Phule Samta Parishad, a national organisation of the OBCs.
The government, following the hunger strike by Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil at Azad Maidan, issued the GR laying down a procedure for the issuance of Kunbi/ Maratha-Kunbi/ Kunbi-Maratha caste certificates to persons belonging to the Maratha community, taking into consideration the record of the Hyderabad Gazetteer.
“The GR was issued in haste, under the tremendous pressure of one powerful community and without it being put before the Cabinet, without calling for or considering any objections and suggestions, and without considering the protests and objections of the members that constitute the OBCs in the state,” Bhujbal said.
The politician pointed out that Kunbi and Maratha are two different castes and are also recognised by the Government of Maharashtra by notifying Kunbis as OBC and Maratha community as Socially and Educationally Backward Community (SEBC).
“In fact, a separate reservation by the SEBC Act, 2024 was passed by the Maharashtra legislature providing 10% reservation in State education and employment for the Maratha community, classifying them as socially and educationally backward. Therefore, using the term Maratha community in the Act of OBC, SC and ST and to facilitate more persons from that community to obtain OBC certificates is unlawful as it permits the Maratha community from getting the benefit of two types of reservations,” Bhujbal pointed out.
The veteran politician objected to words such as 'kul' which is not a defined term, and may refer to a family, communal or geographic extension, as used in the GR. Besides, GR has also used the term ' in relation’ and not relative as used earlier. The relative means a blood relative from the paternal side of the applicant as per the genealogy. The term in relation' is a completely vague term and may include any kind of relationship, paternal, maternal, or even adopted.
He said having two different procedures for the same class - OBCs - amounts to arbitrary action and invidious discrimination which has no nexus to a common object - verification and grant of caste certificate.
Bhujbal also referred to the Maharashtra Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Denotified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance & Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000 (2000 Act' for short) and the 2012 Rules pointing out that the process is already laid down for issuance of certificates.
“In any case, a caste certificate shall be issued to a caste and not a community, even though it's only for the issuance of caste of Kunbi. We respectfully submit that one caste could not have been singled out and be given a special treatment for facilitating the issuance of caste certificates to them, leaving out other reserved backward categories,” he said.