Maratha reservation is a 4-decade-old issue, entangled in legalities. If any leader in power has sincerely tried to help with this cause, it is Devendra Fadnavis. The Maratha population, by and large, understands this, which became evident by the way the rural people of Maharashtra, in which the Marathas form the majority, made the BJP and the Mahayuti government big winners in the Gram Panchayat elections in 2023. The BJP emerged as the largest party by winning 750+ Gram Panchayats, and the BJP-led Mahayuti defeated the Maha Aghadi coalition by 1500 to 690. The attempts of the opposition to tarnish Fadnavis’ image by targeting him under the cover of Manoj Jarange Patil’s agitation were defeated by the rural people through the Gram Panchayat elections held on 5 November 2023.
Important phases of Maratha Arakshan
The Maratha community is dominant in most of the rural areas of Maharashtra, with OBCs, Dalits, Dhangars, and Adivasis being the other communities. This landslide victory of the BJP in the Gram Panchayat Election is testimony that the Marathas and other communities have once again endorsed the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis over caste politics. Even in Marathwada, where the influence of the Jarange-led agitation is expected to be high, the Maratha community has outpoured their support for Devendra Fadnavis in the ballot box, as a gesture of strong disapproval of the propaganda campaigns of Jarange and the opposition against Fadnavis in the runup to the election.
Devendra Fadnavis’ decision to send judges to persuade Jarange to end his hunger strike turned out to be a wise move, which also eased the agitation on time, holding it from turning violent on the eve of Diwali. It is now an accepted fact that despite Maharashtra having so many Maratha Chief Ministers, none had touched upon the issue of Maratha Arakshan other than Devendra Fadnavis, who, unlike his predecessors, delved into a complex issue like this Besides proposing a 12% reservation for the Maratha community and getting the High Court’s approval of it, he launched many schemes for Maratha youths and students during his 1st term as the CM. Devendraji revived the Annasaheb Patil Economic Development Board, dissolved by the Congress-NCP coalition governments for 15 years, and created 70,000 Maratha young entrepreneurs. He also initiated the ‘Sarathi’ organization and facilitated higher education for Maratha youths. No Chief Minister has ever done this. If Manoj Jarange shows a little patience and maturity today, the Marathas will not need to be considered Kunbis for the sake of reservation, as Devendraji had appointed the Gaikwad Committee during his 1st term as the CM, which submitted 1,600 pages of detailed empirical data on the Maratha community’s social and financial status. This empirical data alone is enough to prove the Maratha community is backward before the court. The Thackeray government suppressed this report and submitted only a 60-page report under the name of empirical data and that too without translating it into English, which resulted in the Supreme Court canceling the reservation citing that there was not enough proof that the Maratha community was backward.
Now the state government has filed a curative petition and the Supreme Court has accepted it and agreed to hear it soon. There is no need for new judges and new evidence in a curative petition. Therefore, the same judges who tried the case earlier will hear the curative petition. There will not even be a public hearing in this. The court will only examine the newly presented evidence in the empirical data prepared by the State Backward Classes Commission, which is responsible for deciding whether the Maratha community is backward or not and recommending the reservation if justified. This process will not take much time. Moreover, the Gaikwad Committee report prepared under the supervision of Devendraji is enough to prove that the Marathas are backward. Therefore, the battle for Maratha Arakshan has entered its final stage. If this reservation is upheld in the Supreme Court, the Maratha community will get its own 13% reservation independently without having to change its category. Therefore, Justice Shinde’s committee is scrutinizing Kunbi certificates across the state for those who want to include themselves in the Kunbi caste, and the government is fighting through curative petitions for those who want reservation simply because they are Marathas without making themselves Kunbi. Therefore, Devendra Fadnavis, who fulfills the demand from the community, has no match in the entire Maharashtra!
The relationship between Devendra Fadnavis and the Maratha Samaj is not limited to reservation alone, rather it is deeply rooted. It was only on the initiative of Devendra Fadnavis that the feud between the descendants of Chhatrapati Udayanraje and Chhatrapati Abhaysinh Raje ended. Whenever Devendra Fadnavis is targeted by his opponents on the basis of caste, the throne of Satara stands firmly in his support. Sharad Pawar tried to use the large and benevolent Maratha families for his selfish interests. Today, all of these great Maratha families are unitedly behind the leadership of Devendraji, be it Mohites, Nimbalkars, Ghatges, or Mahadiks. Therefore, today, whether it is the displaced Marathas of Talaga or the established Marathas who are respected in society, both have full faith in the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, and this is exactly what makes some leaders who have been in power over the lives of Marathas constantly targeting Devendra Fadnavis out of insecurity.
Looking at the results of the Gram Panchayat elections in 2023 despite the pattern of the heated agitation of Jarange Patil in Marathwada, it has been proved once again that no matter how much they target Devendra Fadnavis, the public will reject their dirty politics, and fortify the place of Devendra Fadnavis in their hearts