Fadnavis Walks A Tightrope Between Jarange Patil And Chhagan Bhujbal

The shadow of Maratha agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil continues to haunt and loom large over the Devendra Fadnavis government much after he wrapped up his fast in Mumbai and returned back home. Just when the Maharashtra government was breathing easy after having tackled Patil’s hunger strike, Patil is back with his threats after his bete noire Chhagan Bhujbal has demanded withdrawal or modification of the Government Resolution that had granted reservations for Marathas. While a natural backlash from the OBC community was expected as a natural reaction after yielding to the Maratha demand for reservation, the reaction is clearly overshadowing all other works that the state is doing. For Fadnavis, it has become a tightrope walk between pleasing the politically strong Marathas community or his own party’s support base of the OBC community. Soon after granting reservation to Marathas, a strong media blitzkrieg was launched in the state with front page advertisement campaigns splashed across mainline dailies emphasising Fadnavis as a personal brand addressing him as “Devabhau” or brother and showing him paying reverence to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha idol. Funded by anonymous sources, this media campaign was viewed as an attempt by Fadnavis to cash in on the goodwill generated by the Maratha community. But the opposition from OBC community particularly from Bhujbal, belonging to NCP, has riled the Marathas, forcing them to launch a fresh salvo. Patil has now threatened that in case the government fails to implement the reservation by September 17, he would block supplies of essential commodities like dairy, vegetables to Mumbai and not let ministers walk free. Jarange too seems to have learnt his lessons from his 9th fast in Mumbai. He has figured out that the only way to get his issue sorted is by inconveniencing the high-profile residents of Mumbai.