Maratha Reservation: Sharad Pawar, the man who was a stumbling block to the community’s genuine demand

“What have you done for us in the last 40 years?” This was the question posed by angry protesters from all over Maharashtra to former Union Minister and president of Nationalist Congress Party (in question) Sharad Pawar. The venue was a nondescript village in a rather backward district in a backward region. This one question brought to the fore the scheming politics of the octogenarian leader and his rather failure in the same.

The lathicharge on protesters who were demanding reservation for Maratha community in Maharashtra occupied headlines in the media recently. After the lathicharge incident in Sarati Antarwali, a village in Jalna district of Marathwada region, leaders across the political spectrum reached there to meet the protestors. Sharad Pawar was the foremost and prominent among them. However, even before Pawar could reach the protest site, his convoy was stopped by the Maratha protesters outside the village. Demeaning slogans were hurled against him. At that time, the protesters posed the above question to which senior Pawar had no answer. This was arguably the lowest point of his six-decade old political career.

The agitation for reservation for the Maratha community has returned to haunt the State of Maharashtra yet again. The agitation that has been running on and on for over four decades was on the backburner for a brief time when the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government was in power. It had assumed a significant proportion when Devendra Fadnavis was the Chief Minister during 2014 to 2019. Although no major violent incident was recorded during that period, the State witnessed 60 long and peaceful marches by members of the Maratha community, mainly comprising youth. And yet, the history of this agitation is filled with betrayals and failings by Congress. Even though Sharad Pawar is technically separate from Congress today, in practice, he was and is a part and parcel of this dispension.

The issue of Maratha reservation dates back four decades. It was Mathadi labour leader Annasaheb Patil who had demanded reservation for the Maratha community in 1981. Annasaheb Patil took out the first march for Maratha reservation in then Bombay (Mumbai) on March 22, 1982. At that time, Congress was in power and the Government promised Annasaheb Patil to give reservation. And yet, as is the Congress’s practice, it took a U-turn in no time. That forced Annasaheb Patil to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head. Since then, the demand for Maratha reservation comes up again and again.

During the formation of MVA in 2019, Pawar was asked regarding Maratha reservation. At that time, he had ticked it off saying that the issue was not that important. Pawar did not support the silent marches of the Maratha community

It is notable here that the rise of Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra politics coincides with the same period. With the passage of time, his career graph rose higher and higher, but the condition of the Maratha community became poorer and poorer. Pawar rebelled against Vasantdada Patil in 1978, marking the first mass defection in Indian politics and assumed Chief Minister’s post. Subsequently, he became the CM of Maharashtra four times during different periods. However, he never took a positive stand regarding Maratha reservation.

Ultimately, when the going got too tough and social pressure became unbearable, the then Congress-Nationalist Alliance government, of which Pawar was patron leader, decided to give 16 per cent reservation to the Maratha community and that too along with five per cent reservation to Muslims on the basis of religion. This was in the run-up to the Assembly elections in 2014. As was evident, this reservation would not survive in the High Court as it exceeded the 50 per cent  limit placed on reservation by the Supreme Court.

After the imminent doom of the reservation issue, came the Bharatiya Janata Party Government headed by Devendra Fadvanis. It was during his tenure that the Backward Classes Commission recommended the inclusion of Maratha community in backward classes and accordingly 13 per cent reservation was given to the community. As this decision was made after a long and honest study, the High Court upheld this reservation. However, it was appealed against in the Supreme Court. Had there been a Government under Fadvanis or any other well-meaning leader, it would have survived in the apex court also. But something else had happened in the meantime.

The machination of Sharad Pawar and greed of power on the part of Uddhav Thackeray gave shape to a tri-party alliance called Maha Vikas Aghadi. The sheer non-competence and apathy of this Government took their toll in every sphere. Maratha reservation became a big casualty in the mess that ensued. The Government at the time failed to provide empirical data regarding the Maratha community in the State to the Supreme Court even after being asked many times. The only thing that the Government did was to bid the time. Consequently, the SC suspended the Maratha reservation given by Fadnavis Government. The date was May 5, 2021. Eknath Shinde, Minister in Thackeray Cabinet, rebelled against the secular policies of Uddhav Thackeray and became Chief Minister in July 2022. That was more than a year after the cancellation of Maratha reservation.

So much for the protection of the reservation that was given by the earlier Government. Even though Pawar is hailed as a Maratha strongman in the national media, it is no secret that Pawar has consistently taken a stance against the Maratha community. Even during the formation of MVA in 2019, when the issue was raging, he was asked a question regarding Maratha reservation. At that time, he had ticked it off saying that the issue was not that important. Pawar did not support the silent marches of the Maratha community either. Moreover, he has expressly spoken against Maratha reservation in his autobiography ‘Lok Majhe Sangati’. All this has led for the protesters to pose the above question to him.

Clearly, Pawar’s deviations have backfired this time. His attempt to ignite a sub-judice issue and incite passions of gullible people has failed. The police investigation after the lathicharge have brought to fore the hidden hand of NCP in organising all these incidents. Rajesh Tope, a powerful Minister in the MVA Government and a Pawar loyalist, has his residence within 10 km of the place where the protesters gathered. One of Tope’s cousins is reported to have frequented the village a week prior to the incident, according to Prakash Gade, convener of the BJP social media cell, Maharashtra. The swiftness with which Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray rushed to the place to interact with the agitators also point towards their involvement.

After having faced wrath of angry protestors, Pawar demanded that the Central Government should increase the limit of 50 per cent to give reservation to the Maratha community by passing a law in the Parliament. What he did not say was why didn’t they make this law when he himself was a powerful Minister in the UPA Government from 2004 to 2014? In addition, Pawar extended unsolicited legal advice to the State Government to bring an ordinance. The moot question here was what did Sharad Pawar and the Thackeray Government do when the reservation was cancelled by SC when they were in power? Why didn’t they bring the ordinance for Maratha reservation?

It has to be noted here that the Maratha community in the State depends mainly on agriculture and the cooperative sector. These two sectors were neglected and systematically weakened after 1980s. The period from 1980 to 2014 is deemed to be dominated by Pawar’s persona and policies. Therefore, one may say that it is he who caused the destruction of the sectors that has led the community members to come to such a pass today. His attempt to get most of this pathetic situation of Maratha community that has his own making, with significant contribution from the Congressmen in the State and national level, is now clear to the community and this is why he is facing this backlash today. After the fall of MVA Government and a rebellion by his nephew Ajit Pawar, he is still licking his wounds. The latest plot inciting Maratha community members might be his last ditch attempt to gain lost ground. However, the angry protesters’ question has put a seal of firm no to his deviousness.