Ministers meet OBC activists on behalf of govt, urge them to end fast

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Three Maharashtra ministers and a member of the legislative council on Friday met OBC activists Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare and urged them to end their fast, which entered the ninth day.

The delegation comprising ministers Atul Save, Uday Samant and Girish Mahajan, and MLC Gopichand Padalkar met the activists at the protest site at Wadigodri village in Jalna district. Newly-elected Shiv Sena MP Sandipan Bhumre was also present.

Mahajan also called up Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis from the stage and made them talk to the protesting activists.

Later, Padalkar said a meeting between a delegation of the OBC (Other Backward Classes) community and the government has been organised in Mumbai.

Mahajan said five OBC leaders named by Hake will attend the meeting at 5 pm.

“A way can be worked out only after talks. The government will not let injustice happen to anyone,” he said.

However, Hake and Waghmare, who have been fasting since June 13, refused to halt their agitation and instead, demanded a written assurance from the government that the OBC quota won’t be diluted.

The two are opposed to activist Manoj Jarange's demand over implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as “sage soyare” (blood relatives) of Maratha community members. Kunbi, an agrarian group, falls under the OBC category, and Jarange has been demanding that Kunbi certificates be issued to all Marathas, thus making them eligible for quota in government jobs and education.

“The government doesn’t take notice of OBC agitation but gives the red carpet treatment to the protest by a specific community,” he said.

He said prominent OBC leaders like Dhananjay Munde, Pankaja Munde, Chhagan Bhujbal, Gopichand Padalkar and Vijay Wadettiwar should also be present during the meeting in Mumbai.

Waghmare also said that their protest will continue till the government gives in writing that the OBC reservation won’t be disturbed.

“The government says it will implement ‘sage soyare’ notification. But it also says OBC reservation won’t be affected. Someone is telling the truth and someone is not,” he said.

The government should make its stand clear and cancel the “back-door entry to reservation through 54 lakh Kunbi-Maratha records”, he added.

On Thursday, Hake and Waghmare had alleged that Maratha youths were ending their lives due to confusion created by activist Jarange.