Maharashtra minister and OBC strongman Chhagan Bhujbal escalated pressure on the Maharashtra government. The NCP Ajit Pawar camp MLA, Bhujbal on Tuesday urged the government to withdraw the latest Maratha reservation Government Resolution (GR) issued on 2 September 2025 or make an amendment to the same.
Bhujbal has asked the Maharashtra government to remove the word “Maratha” from the GR.
“The government should not have called Marathas as Kunbis. The issued GR needs to be withdrawn or amended,” Bhujbal said while speaking to a media person after the weekly state cabinet meeting in Mantralaya.
On 29 August, Maratha activist Manoj Jarange started an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Jarange demanded that the entire Maratha community of Marathwada should be treated as Kunbi and issued Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificates. Accordingly, five days later, on 2 September, the Maharashtra government issued a GR to end the protest.
While Jarange claimed victory, OBC groups raised a red flag against the GR. However, former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that the OBC reservation has not been touched and only those who can prove their Kunbi lineage will be issued caste certificates.
On Monday, both Jarange and Bhujbal had warned of moving court against the reservation. Bhujbal challenged the GR and Jarange issued a warning to move the court this time to question the legitimacy of the 1994 GR that forms the basis of OBC reservation.
Marathas make up about 28 percent of the state’s 12 crore-plus population, while OBCs account for nearly 53 percent, spread across more than 375 castes.
A 2024 state report says over 21 percent of them live below the poverty line, compared to the state’s 17.4 percent average. Earlier, until the 1990s, Marathas did not care much about reservation. But after OBCs got 27 percent quota through the Mandal Commission, they began to feel left out in jobs and education and later started demanding to be considered for the same reservation.
