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Nagpur, Oct 10 (IANS) Various OBC fronts on Friday warned that they will blockade Mumbai, Thane and Pune if the state government does not listen to their demands, including scrapping the September 2 government proposal to provide Kunbi certificates to members of the Maratha community.
He also challenged the BJP-led grand alliance government to give 42 percent reservation to OBCs in Maharashtra on the lines of Telangana.
Congress legislature party leader and one of the key organizers of Friday’s morcha, Vijay Wadettiwar, said in his speech, “The OBC community in the state is deeply upset by the government decision taken by the Mahayuti government on September 2. The government should immediately cancel it. The Mahamorcha in Nagpur is just a beginning, and if the government ignores the OBCs, we will shut down not only Mumbai but also Pune and Thane.”
Wadettiwar claimed that after the September 2 government resolution was issued, thousands of Kunbi certificates were being distributed every day to Marathas in Marathwada.
“Due to this, OBC youth are committing suicide. Has the Mahayuti government come to power only on the strength of Manoj Jarange (Maratha pro-reservation activist)?” he asked.
He said that the government has forgotten that 374 OBC castes have voted for this government.
He said, “Injustice is being done to OBCs. OBCs have suffered huge losses and hence the government should seriously withdraw its decision to protect OBC reservation and the interests of the community.”
“If the DNA of the government is of OBC, then it should cancel the September 2 decision and prove its DNA. Now the Maratha community is entering the OBC community quota. While the Maratha community members are in good condition, the OBC community members remain malnourished. How will the OBCs stand before them? So it is a fight for the survival of the OBCs,” Wadettiwar said.
Wadettiwar said that even though the government is claiming that OBC reservation will not be affected, the OBC quota is being encroached upon.
He reiterated, “If the government has the strength then OBCs should be given 42 per cent reservation as given by the Telangana government.”
Wadettiwar also clarified that OBCs are not against the Maratha community, adding that they should be provided a separate quota.
He said that he is against giving reservation to Marathas under OBC quota.
The Lok Sabha members from Vidarbha, Prashant Padole, Pratibha Dhanorkar and Shyamkumar Barve, former ministers Anil Deshmukh (NCP SP), Sunil Kedar, Manikrao Thackeray (Congress), Mahadev Jankar (Rashtriya Samaj Paksh), OBC leaders Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare, were among others who took part in the morcha.
–IANS
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