On Thursday, Union Minister Narayan Rane emphasized that political leaders should refrain from pitting the Marathas and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) against each other. The statement comes in response to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who faced criticism for suggesting that the existing OBC quota should remain untouched while providing reservation to the Marathas.
No political leader should play the Marathas off against OBCs, Rane said when asked by reporters here about Bhujbal’s stand. When I was heading a committee on (Maratha) reservation, I had given (recommended) 16 percent reservation. I did not touch the OBC quota. Marathas should get reservation as there are poor people in the community, the former chief minister said.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange is still young and should study how reservation is granted to any community under the Constitution, Rane said. Marathas will not take quota from the OBCs (in the OBC category), he added.