Taking a cue from the Bihar government, the Maharashtra government, too, should conduct a caste census to understand the distribution of population and demands for reservation, Leader of Opposition and Congress’s Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Vijay Wadettiwar told News18 in an exclusive interview.
“I welcome the step which the Bihar government has taken. Doodh ka doodh aur paani ka paani. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar had made the provision for the OBCs in the Constitution. We must thank him for that. The Maharashtra government should also conduct such a census which will help us gauge the population status of all castes," he said.
Currently, ‘Maratha reservation’ has become a hot topic, after police lathicharge during a protest by the community in Jalna. “No one can deny the role of the Congress in giving reservation to the OBC and also to women in local body elections. The decision of conducting caste census was taken during the Manmohan Singh government. The then government had taken the stand to know the exact status of OBC in the entire country and accordingly fix the reservation."
“Census has been done for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), but not for the OBC. It then becomes difficult to give them political reservation, which further leads to less representation of OBCs. The BJP didn’t not go ahead with this kind of census," he said. “…I want to tell the leaders that they are increasing the gaps between two castes. So the OBCs, Marathas, Dhangars and tribals are protesting against this government," said Wadettiwar.
According to Wadettiwar, the state government “must tell how much time they will need to conduct a caste census, which is a must to solve the complex issue of caste reservation". “They call it the double engine government. Then they should take a decision on Maratha reservation. They should not take the community for granted. If required, a constitutional amendment should be done to give them the reservation."
He further clarified that the OBCs are not against Maratha reservation in the state, and the government will have to decide whether to give reservation to Marathas from the OBC quota or not. “The reservation is going above 50%, so they will have to increase that limit as they are in power at the centre and in state."
Responding to the current government’s claims against the earlier Maha Vikas Aghadi government on the Maratha reservation issue, Waddettiwar replied, “The Maratha reservation issue came up during their government. It was their election gimmick which even the Maratha community has figured out. The state government had no right to give caste-based reservation, even the Constitution has not given such a right to the state. If anyone feels that they are above the law, what can we say? Why are Marathas protesting? Why couldn’t their reservation stand the Supreme Court’s scrutiny? Because it has to fit into tthe framework of law. When we had approached the SC, we had hired the best lawyers. They presented our side," he said.
He further explained: “The SC’s observation says till the time you don’t recognise any caste as educationally and socially backward, you can’t give them reservation. This right has been given to the Central and State backward Commission. The then BJP government took this decision just for political benefit…If the Centre can take a decision on the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), then why not on the Marathas, Dhangars, OBCs, and other castes. If they have the political will, they can do the OBC caste census within six months."
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