'This is unjust to the OBC community': Vijay Wadettiwar points out flaws in GR over Maratha quota

Mumbai: Pointing out flaws in the Government Resolution (GR) on Hyderabad Gazetteer, veteran politician and Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said that the BJP-led Maha Yuti government intends to give blanket reservation to the Marathas as Kunbis and pointed out that the word “eligible” was dropped from the final notification.

“In the first government decision regarding Maratha reservation, the word "eligible" was used. However, while issuing the second government decision, the word "eligible" was omitted. This implies that the Maratha community could be granted blanket reservation under the OBC category,” said Wadettiwar, a veteran OBC leader from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Wadettiwar, a former two-time Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly, said that the OBC quota is threatened because of the government’s decision.

“This is unjust to the OBC community,” he said amid consultations with OBC leaders and groups across Maharashtra in the wake of the GR on Hyderabad Gazetteer, which mentions Marathas as Kunbis in the Marathwada region.

As a first step, it was decided that the OBC community would move courts.

“Petitions will be filed against the GR all four benches of the Bombay High Court in Mumbai, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Kolhapur,” said Wadettiwar.

Secondly, a mammoth morcha of OBCs will be organised in Nagpur in the first week of October to protest the government’s decision.

“Those joining the agitation should keep aside their party affiliations and unite under the OBC cause. This is not about opposing anyone, but about protecting the rights of OBCs. The GR clearly undermines our rightful share,” the veteran politicians.

“The GR has curbed the rights of OBCs and is a conspiracy to deprive them of reservation,” Wadettiwar said, adding that if the government had not changed the GR, their stand would have been different.

“The OBC community will have to fight this government stance on two fronts: one at the judicial level and the other on the streets. OBC organizations have shown their readiness for this,” he said, adding that the protests should be peaceful.

“We have no objection to those who have proper documentation, but granting blanket reservation is not appropriate. The GR issued by the government will undermine the rights of the original OBCs. Therefore, it was emphasized that preparations must now be made to fight both on the streets and in the courts,” he said justifying the stand.

“The Maha Yuti government in the state is creating conflict between two communities to divert attention from the state's issues. Farmers' suicides, unemployment, and the state's financial ruin are pressing issues, with farmers and contractors taking their lives, but the government is instigating a Maratha versus OBC conflict to divert attention from these problems,” he added.