┬аChhagan Bhujbal
| Photo Credit: Today News 24
Amid the verbal sabre-rattling between Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, the former on Tuesday said the focus of the OBC community was to secure support across the political spectrum in a bid to halt the onslaught on the communityтАЩs reservation begun by Mr. Jarange-PatilтАЩs agitation.
тАШPublic awarenessтАЩ
тАЬOur objective currently is how to safeguard our reservation. We will be doing it through courts, through the government, by raising public awarenessтАж In the [OBC] rallies that we are holding, OBC leaders from all parties, both the ruling and Opposition are coming together and speaking on the need to save OBC reservation,тАЭ said Mr. Bhujbal, a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) faction.
He added that the need of the hour was for the OBC leaders to harness the strength of the community. тАЬOur focus is to stop this aggression on the rights of the OBC.I feel it is the duty of OBC leaders to harness the full strength of the community at this moment,тАЭ Mr. Bhujbal said.
Lashing out at Mr. Jarange-Patil, he said: тАЬWho is he to challenge me? First, tell him to contest and win a gram panchayat poll.тАЭ
Mocking the activist, Mr. Bhujbal said Mr. Jarange-Patil had been claiming to now fight for the reservation of the Dhangar community as well. тАЬBut it is you [Jarange-Patil] and your Maratha confederates who are decimating the quotas of various OBC communities and others like the DhangarsтАжyou stop your agitation against us and the OBCs will be grateful to you.тАЭ
The Minister also denied there had been any discussion over his resignation revelation at the Cabinet meeting on Monday.
Last week, Mr. Bhujbal, at a rally in Ahmednagar, had said that he had reportedly resigned from the Cabinet last November over the Maratha quota issue. However, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had clarified that Mr. BhujbalтАЩs resignation had not been accepted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jarange-Patil said he remained firm on resuming his agitation from February 10 while demanding that the Eknath Shinde-led government make good its promise of granting OBC caste certificates to blood relatives of Marathas whose records proved them as Kunbis.
He said the government would have to call a special Assembly session for the Maratha quota issue and warned that it must implement the Ordinance on granting Kunbi OBC certificates before that time.
тАЬWe have several programmes that will take place in Pune, Navi Mumbai and Nashik before February 10,тАЭ said the activist, adding there was no communication from the government over the proposed agitation.
