Maratha Might
- CM and Dy CM are Marathas
- As were 99% of the former CMs
- 15 out of 30 are cabinet ministers
- Own/control 85% sugar factories
- Own 75% of land in the state
- 1,200 out of 2,000 MLAs between 1962 and 2004 were Marathas
- Control 72% cooperatives
Source : Petition filed before the Bombay High Court challenging reservation
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Marathas have always prided themselves on being of a ‘higher’ caste: warriors and descendants of Shivaji Maharaj, no less. But with the assembly elections around the corner, the state government has declared them socially and educationally backward and offered them 16 per cent reservation in government jobs. Even the BJP and Shiv Sena, while dismissing it as a hasty electoral gimmick, could not help but welcome the announcement.
Never mind the large number of Maratha strongmen who have whole empires of educational institutes sprawled over thousands of acres of public land. The Patils, the Kadams, the Pawars...they are all worthy members of the Maratha clan.
Tell that to Narayan Rane and he gets defensive: “In every community, there are a few rich people.” The current industries minister and former chief minister of the state is a Maratha himself, and headed the committee which recommended quota for the community. The decision was based on an extensive and scientific survey, he told Outlook, but when asked for details, pleaded he was travelling.
State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant added his two bits when he said, “There is no Maratha IAS officer in the state.” Ask him to define backwardness, and Sawant flounders for an answer. It doesn’t stop him from claiming: “For the first time such a scientific survey has been conducted in India to come to the conclusion. One of the largest quantitative data has been accumulated and then studied.” The survey is said to have covered more than four lakh people.
There are enough people to refute these claims. A petition by self-proclaimed whistleblower Ketan Tirodkar is already in the Bombay High Court. Challenging the constitutionality of the decision, Tirodkar in his petition has stated: “The Marathi-speaking population of this state are called Marathas. There is no caste, creed or community that seeks to identify itself by owing allegiance to Marathi language... (it’s) like the Hindi-speaking populace of UP seeking reservation at an all-India level.”
A former member of the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission, on condition of anonymity, says, “As per our Constitution, reservations are meant for socially and educationally backward and those not adequately represented. It does not take into account the economically backward; it was made clear that it was not a poverty-alleviation programme but an effort to give adequate representation. According to a 2009 report published by the state government, the Marathas are 16 per cent of the total population. If one includes the Maratha-Kunbis, then it can be stretched to 30 per cent. But Kunbis, Maratha-Kunbis, Kunbi-Marathas are already part of obcs. So how can they show that Marathas alone are a 32 per cent of the total population? Did they grow by a 100 per cent?”
Several commissions, including the National Commission for Backward Classes, the Khatri commission and the Bapat Commission—had actually rejected this demand in the past. Rane continues to defend the decision, though he would have in fact preferred reservation for every economically backward community. He is perhaps echoing the thoughts of his one-time mentor Bal Thackeray, who said he believed only in two divisions—rich and poor.
Political analysts say the move might not stand scrutiny in court, but serve its purpose till elections are over. Of course, it may not fetch any votes; reservation for the Jat community in Haryana did not get the Congress any votes this election. However, as Tirodkar in his petition says, all that’s left is reservation for Brahmins and subsets of Brahmins, the rest are all covered. Social justice be damned.
