Bhujbal Faces Life Threat, Sticks To His Pro-OBC Stand

Firebrand OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal has stopped his morning strolls due to the perceived threat to his life. “I will be shot down, I have been warned by my people,” he has alleged in an interaction with the media. Bhujbal’s explosive speech in the Maharashtra legislative assembly on December 11 has gone viral as he has caught Maratha leaders in a cleft stick. “Tell me, do you want to be registered as a Kunbi,” he asked top legislators like Balasaheb Thorat, a powerful cooperative sugar Maratha baron. There was silence. For Marathas, accepting to be Kunabis means admitting that they belong to the OBCs, traditionally considered a rung down from Maharashtra’s ruling clans in the generational caste hierarchy. As Bhujbal is emerging as the sole OBC leader in the state, the verbal attacks against him are becoming sharper. Bhujbal has been championing the OBC cause for half a century and is perhaps the first mass leader to speak out openly against the Maratha domination, albeit in a veiled manner. Though he has repeatedly stated that he is not opposed to the Maratha demand for reservations, he has also made it clear that the OBC reservation quota must not be sliced to accommodate the Maratha caste in the reservation cover. Manoj Jarange Patil, who is leading the Maratha demand marches, has reiterated that the December 24 deadline for fulfilling the Maratha demand must be implemented at any cost. The state government is assessing the situation.