Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024: Quota turmoil deepens caste fault lines in Marathwada

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In over a decade’s time, Marathwada has changed a lot. 

The caste faultlines between the Marathas and the OBCs are clearly visible on the ground. 

“This is not the same Marathwada. There are differences among the Marathas and OBCs over the reservation issue and we are feeling it on the ground,” said Nanasaheb Narwade, a farmer from Pachod in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

“The are differences among people and love for each other has reduced among the two castes,” said Narwade, a Maratha, who is a farmer who is engaged in cultivation of cotton, mosambi or sweet-lemon and kesar-mangoes. 

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is the divisional headquarters of Marathwada region, which has eight districts - Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (earlier known as Aurangabad), Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Dharashiv (earlier known as Osmanabad), and Parbhani. 

The Ambad tehsil in Jalna has seen several agitations over the past 14 months. 

From the Antarwali Sarathi, Maratha reservation campaigner Manoj Jarange-Patil is conducting the agitation for the last 14 months which include seven hunger strikes. 

Just around six kms away is Wadigodri, the place where OBC Sangharsh Sena founder Laxman Hake undertook parallel counter agitations in the past three months.

Marathwada borders Telangana and Karnataka.

“We are fighting for a cause,” said Suresh Patil from the Antarwali Sarati village.

“When we were young, we had friends across communities. But now we seem to avoid  Marathas and they us. There is no enmity but some kind of a difference has come up,” said Suresh Patkar, an OBC, who works at Wadigodri. 

“Manoj Dada is very popular among the youth. People consider him as a saviour, who would ensure that the Maratha community gets reservation. He is very simple but makes his point strongly,” said Vishnu Patil, a tourist cab driver who travels extensively in the Marathwada region. “The Jarange-factor is going to be important,” said Patil, who hails from Paithan. 

The OBCs agree that Marathas should get reservation but not from their quota.

“The issue is complex. The impact was seen in the Lok Sabha polls and it would clearly be visible in the Vidhan Sabha polls…in Lok Sabha, Jarange-Patil has not contested the elections but his people are contesting the polls. This would have a heavy impact, more on the ruling Maha Yuti than opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi,” said journalist and political analyst Nisar Ahmed Khan, who hails from Beed and based in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. 

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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