Will block Mumbai if govt does not listen to our demands: OBCs

Nagpur, Oct 10 Various OBC fronts on Friday warned that they will block Mumbai, Thane and Pune if the state government does not listen to their demands, including the cancellation of a government resolution of September 2 to provide Kunbi certificates to Maratha community members.

They also dared the BJP-led MahaYuti government to provide 42 per cent reservation to OBCs in Maharashtra on the lines of Telangana.

“The OBC community in the state has been strongly disturbed by the government decision taken by the MahaYuti government on September 2. The government should cancel it immediately. The Mahamorcha in Nagpur is just a beginning, and if the government ignores OBCs, then we will block not only Mumbai but also Pune and Thane,” said Congress Legislature Party leader and one of the key organisers of Friday’s morcha, Vijay Wadettiwar, in his speech.

Wadettiwar claimed that after the release of the government resolution of September 2, thousands of Kunbi certificates were being distributed to Marathas every day in Marathwada.

“Due to this, OBC youth are resorting to committing suicide. Has the MahaYuti government come to power only on the trust of Manoj Jarange (a pro-Maratha reservation activist)?” he asked.

He added that the government has forgotten that 374 castes among OBCs have voted for this government.

“Injustice is being done to OBCs. OBCs are the big losers and therefore the government should withdraw its decision in a serious bid to protect the OBC reservation and the interests of the community,” he said.

“If the government's DNA is that of OBCs, then it should cancel the decision of September 2 and prove its DNA. Now the Maratha community is entering the OBC community quota. While Maratha community members are well placed, the OBC community members remain malnourished. How will the OBCs survive in front of them? That is why this is a battle for the survival of the OBCs,” said Vadettiwar.

Wadettiwar said even though the government is claiming that OBC reservation will not be affected but there is an encroachment in the OBC quota.

“If the government has the strength, 42 per cent reservation should be given to OBCs like the Telangana government has given,” he reiterated.

Wadettiwar also clarified that OBCs are not against the Maratha community, saying that they should be separately provided quota.

He said that they are opposed to giving the reservation to Marathas from the 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

sj/dan

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