New phase of protests for Maratha reservation starts

The vexed Maratha reservation entered a new phase on Wednesday with descendants of legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and social reformer Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj leading the charge and joining hands with politicians and commoners to demand quota for the community.

The epicentre of the agitation was the historic town of Kolhapur, where the Maratha community held a silent 'morcha'.

On its part, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government assured that it was doing everything to ensure reservations to the community even as the opposition BJP stepped up the demand.

The silent 'morcha' comes days after Thackeray led an MVA delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and descendants of the legendary Maratha warriors -- Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale of Satara and Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje Bhosale of Kolhapur -- met in Pune.

Read | Descendants of Shivaji meet over Maratha reservation

In Kolhapur, Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati and his wife Sanyogeetaraje, along with other members of the royal family, sat in protest at the Shahu Smarak.

The demand for reservation to the Maratha community is not new – and in the past decade, it has intensified.

Over the last few years, the demand for reservation for Marathas had intensified by bodies like Sakal Maratha Samaj and Maratha Kranti Morcha and more than 50 peaceful marches were held between 2016 and 2017.

However, in 2018, there have been incidents of youths ending their lives.

Read | Supreme Court quashes Maratha reservation in education, jobs

In the run-up to the 2014 Vidhan Sabha polls, the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front government led by Prithviraj Chavan, based on recommendations of a committee headed by Konkan strongman Narayan Rane, provided for 16 per cent reservation to Marathas. However, it was struck down by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court had upheld the ruling.

However, when the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena government came to power, it constituted the State Backward Class Commission in June 2017 to study the social, financial and educational status of the Maratha community. The commission submitted its report in November 2018. In the same month, Maharashtra legislature unanimously passed a bill proposing 16 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for Marathas.

Last month, the Supreme Court struck down the 2018 Maharashtra law granting reservations to Marathas in admissions to colleges and government jobs, terming it as "unconstitutional", and held there were no exceptional circumstances to breach the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the 1992 Mandal Commission verdict.

For the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government, ensuring reservation to the politically dominant community is a major political and social issue and much depends on the Centre.

The Marathas account for nearly 33 per cent of the total 12 crore population of Maharashtra.

Of the total 52 per cent reservation in the state, SCs and STs account for 13 and seven per cent respectively, OBCs get 19 per cent, VJNT, Special Backward Class and Nomadic Tribes account for 13 per cent.