Move to destabilise the government, end OBC quota: Laxman Hake hits out at Maratha agitation

Calling Manoj Jarange-Patil’s Mumbai protest a political ploy, OBC leader Laxman Hake accused parties across the spectrum of backing a campaign that threatens to erode the 27% OBC quota and unsettle the Maha Yuti government.

OBC resistance leader Laxman Hake (L); Maratha reservation campaigner Manoj Jarange-Patil

Credit: PTI, Facebook

Mumbai: OBC resistance leader Laxman Hake criticised Maratha reservation campaigner Manoj Jarange-Patil, saying that the morcha in Mumbai is intended to destabilise the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maha Yuti government and undermine the OBC quota.

“This is a serious issue,” Prof Hake said, targeting MPs and MLAs of both the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi and the ruling Maha Yuti who are supporting Jarange-Patil, currently on a fast-unto-death at Azad Maidan in Mumbai demanding Maratha reservation under the OBC category.

Hake, who heads the OBC Sangharsh Sena, said there is a move to “destabilise and change” the government in Maharashtra, though he added that he does not want to speak on politics directly.

He questioned why leaders of the NCP, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, were maintaining contact with Jarange-Patil and meeting him on stage.

“It appears that all parties want to end the OBC reservation,” he said.

Hake’s statement coincided with the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh launching a chain hunger strike at Samvidhan Chowk in Nagpur.

“When the Maha Yuti government, led then by Chief Minister and now Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, gave 10 per cent separate reservation to Marathas in 2024, why is there a demand for quota under the 27 per cent OBC category? This will dilute and end the existing quota,” he added.