OBC Political Formations In Maharashtra

Abstract

Significantly in the era of Mandal I (1979-2006) to Mandal II (2007-2017) the OBC newline movement in India have gone through various conflicts and disturbances. It has seen newline resistance as well as support from the silent masses of backward classes. It has newline always been remained in the political debate. As a result, it has brought out different newline dynamics of the affirmative action politics around the castes in Shudra-Atishudras. newline The emergence of Hardik Patel as a hero of Patidar / Patel community demanding to newline include them in OBCs, blocking of highways by Jats in Haryana with the same newline demand, Marathas demand to include them in OBCs and show power through newline massive rallies against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of newline Atrocities Act, 1989 (hereafter PoA Act) are enough examples to show that now newline politically powerful people stake a claim to reservation on the basis of their newline backwardness. This can be seen as a reaction to reservations for SC, ST and OBCs. newline On other hand all these castes were reluctant to call themselves backward just a newline decade ago. The realization that reservations mean equal opportunities in education, newline employment and electoral politics, lead to demands for inclusion. Henceforth identity newline politics becomes the politics of inclusion. These claims however are based on a myth newline created that Patels, Jats, Patidars, Gujars and Marathas are OBCs. Research in this newline area shows us a different face of the OBCs, that while in numbers they are in newline majority, each caste is by itself in minority. newline In this research, while bringing out significance of the OBC movement in newline Maharashtra, it was essential to look into the historical legacy of Satya-Shodhak to the newline Non-Brahmin movement. The southern part of India and Maharashtra were leading in newline the Non-Brahmin movement and resistance against caste discrimination. newline These newline movements asked for human rights, access to education, inter-caste marriages, social newline gathering and inter dining, Satyagraha by Shudra men and women to enter temples, newline and later rejecting idol worship etc. In this geographical belt you find the legacy of newline awakening from a Bhakti movement to a Non-Brahmin movement making it the newline appropriate historical context to build Bahujan discourse and OBC movement.Paradoxically however, it was quite a surprise that researchers like Jaffrelot to see the newline silent revolution of OBCs in Bihar and UP (Jaffrelot ....). newline At another level, the pattern of the OBC movement all over India is quite different newline from other new social movements. Apart from the national level leadership in the newline legislative body which played a vital role, one cannot name a single leader of OBC newline movement. This movement has emerged from a collective consciousness around the newline demand of implementation of Mandal Commission Report. It is similar to the newline women s movement, Dalit movement and Adivasi movement which emerged through newline collective consciousness. But the strategies of, mobilizing, organizing, the strategies, newline campaign planning, decision making are quite different than these other newline contemporaraneous movements newline