Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil’s demands come at a time when OBC leaders, including Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, held several meetings discussing the issue of reservation. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Monday (September 8, 2025) asked the Maharashtra government to distribute Kunbi caste certificates to Maratha before September 17, flagging that if Other Backward Classes (OBC) leaders sabotage or interfere with the recently issued Government Resolution (GR), then he will legally challenge the 1994 GR that granted reservations to OBC communities.
Mr. Patil warned the government to start the distribution work before September 17, on the Marathwada Liberation Day or face consequences. “If anything goes wrong while implementing the GR, listening to OBC leaders, we will legally challenge and ensure that the Court scraps the 1994 GR,” stated Mr. Patil, while speaking to the media in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
OBC reservations were granted to OBC communities based on the Mandal Commission report, and the 1994 GR, comprising guidelines for reservation in government jobs, was issued.
Mr. Patil’s demands come at a time when OBC leaders, including Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, held several meetings discussing the issue of reservation. He responded to Mr. Bhujbal’s statement of challenging the Maratha GR in the Court. Mr. Bhujbal was one of the key persons to facilitate OBC reservations since the 1990s and was against the extension of OBC reservations for Marathas.
On Monday (September 8, 2025), Mr. Bhujbal reiterated that the structure of GR is problematic for the OBC reservation and threatened to challenge it in the Court, saying, “There are 374 OBC communities having several issues, some of them protesting at the village level. If needed, we will do a large-scale protest.”
After Mr. Patil’s five-day hunger strike in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government issued the GR on September 2, implementing the Hyderabad Gazette to provide Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas of Marathwada.
Urging to provide manpower, Mr. Patil asked the government to set three-member committees at the village level and instruct officers at the taluka level to distribute certificates immediately.
However, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “The dedicated authorities will issue the certificate after following the due process. With the application, a certain set of documents is to be provided, and then the certificate will be issued. We cannot put swords around their neck for the certificate.”
Mr. Bawankule has announced to hold a sub-committee meeting on September 10 to discuss the contentions on the GR and the OBC reservation.
Opposition asks for a meeting
Meanwhile, Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar held a meeting with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties to discuss the matter. He called the GR “dangerous” and “unfair” for OBC communities. “In today’s meeting, several parties have agreed that the GR is an injustice to OBC communities,” Mr. Wadettiwar said, adding that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should hold an all-party meeting and discuss the issue and give us a chance to present our perspective.
In response, Mr. Bawankule asked Mr. Wadettiwar to raise the concerns with the committee and advised him not to politicise the social issue for personal gain.
Published – September 09, 2025 01:45 am IST
