As Pawan Kharwa goes about canvassing for Vitthal Rabade (Rabade mama) of the Janjit Loksahi Party in the Gangakhed assembly constituency in Parbhani district, one of the most common slogan he raises is “Jai OBC”.
Kharwa, who earlier was an active member of the K Chandrashekar-Rao led Bharat Rashtriya Party (BRS), said this move sums up their political activity. “This election, we are fighting to ensure our people get justice. The established parties have not given us justice,” he said.
On the background of Manoj Jarange Patil’s movement for inclusion of the Marathas in the OBC community, Kharwa feels this slogan would help them achieve a pan-OBC consolidation.
When Jarange Patil started his movement to include the Marathas within the OBC category, he had faced backlash from almost all established OBC leaders. As Maharashtra goes to vote on November 20, the divide between the Marathas and the OBCs is something that has everyone guessing.
For the Mahayuti, especially the BJP, the consolidation of OBC votes is something they hope would help counter an apparent Maratha consolidation, especially in the Marathwada region- the epicenter of Jarange Patil’s movement. Even NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) Maharashtra chief Jayant Patil, in an interview with The Indian Express, said Beed has seen such polarization which he said was fueled by the BJP.
On ground signs of consolidation might not be very visible but Maratha youth did not shy away from talking about their disappointment when Jarange Patil announced he would not field candidates in the upcoming elections. Mangesh Kadam, from Wanjarkheda village in Latur, said they were all ready to work for the candidate supported by Jarange Patil.
“He was from the next village. We would have given the present MLA (Dhiraj Deshmukh—the Congress MLA from Latur rural) a good fight. But when Dada (as Jarange Patil is known among his followers) asked us to withdraw the forms, we did so,” he said. Kadam is not very forthcoming about whom he is going to vote for – all he says is that Dada has asked them to defeat those who were against the reservation of Marathas.
Laxman More, from Sonkhed village in Nanded, was one of the many candidates who filed his nomination at the behest of Jarange Patil. When Jarange Patil asked his people to take back their nomination, More did as directed and decided to work for independent candidate Sanjay Ghogare.
“Ghogare was with the BJP but resigned when Jarange Patil called his agitation. He is working for the Maratha community,” said More. Asked if this election would see a Maratha versus OBC consolidation, More replies in the negative. “We have not antagonized any one- we are asking for our rights,” he said.
A more nuanced explanation has been offered by an Congress OBC leader who felt in places where parties have fielded OBC candidates, the division can be felt.
Sourabh Hatkar, a PhD scholar from the University of Edinburgh, opined against an OBC consolidation. “OBC is a broad umbrella term, which have many sub-castes under it. At the present condition, any consolidation looks difficult,” he said.
Hatkar talked about assembly constituencies in Nashik where multiple OBC leaders are facing each other in the battle of the ballot. In some constituencies like Nandgaon, where Sameer Bhujbal, the nephew of NCP (Ajit Pawar) minister Chhagan is contesting as an independent, Hatkar said other OBC candidates had met Jarange Patil to ask for his support. “Thus, overall a broad OBC consolidation seems a bit far fetched. It can happen at some places but it would be mostly local,” he said.
Hatkar, who is the founder of the organization called Medhpal Putra Army (Army of Sons of Sepherds), is from the Dhangar community which in Maharashtra is classified under the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic tribes. This community, which makes up over 10 per cent of Maharashtra’s population, Hatkar said was left without a central leadership this time. “So most of them would vote as per the local conditions,” he said.
