MUMBAI: After Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s aggressive appeasement of the Maratha community and his efforts to include them in the OBC category, the BJP’s RSS-backed OBC vote bank has been significantly affected. This vote bank had been systematically nurtured over the years in opposition to the Maratha community.
Shinde has gone the extra mile to appease the Marathas. “This has not been done by any CM in the past, even though some of them belonged to the Maratha community. A balance was maintained to preserve social harmony, ensuring that individuals in constitutional positions did not show bias toward any particular community,” said a political observer.
However, Shinde is in a hurry to strengthen his position and reduce the influence of his opponents in both the government and opposition. Therefore, he took the oath at the Shivaji Maharaj statue during his Azad Maidan rally and pledged to provide reservations to Marathas at any cost and under any condition. But in doing so, he has disturbed the core vote bank of the BJP, which is the OBC community,” he added.
He added that OBCs are feeling insecure after the state government issued a draft notification granting Kunbi Certificates to Marathas, whose Sage Soyere are recorded as Kunbi in revenue and education records.
