Mumbai: After the open spat between the ministers, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has initiated attempts to keep both, the OBC and Maratha, flocks together. As a part of these efforts he has instructed senior cabinet colleagues and OBC leaders not to confuse the community members and at the same time formed a cabinet sub-committee on Dhangar quota.

The decision on the cabinet sub-committee is likely to be approved at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Bhujbal, who was touring Marathwada on Monday, took an aggressive stand stating that the OBC community would oppose any effort to carve out Maratha quota from within the OBC quota. 

This has led to the possibility of increasing the rift between the two communities. Also, the stand has brought to fore the fissures within the MahaYuti. 

Shinde publicly reprimands Bhujbal

While Shinde publicly reprimanded Bhujbal stating that the state government is not going to grant Maratha quota from within the OBC quota and that he should not confuse the OBC community, another Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai led a frontal attack on Bhujbal and appealed Ajit Pawar to look into the matter. This is likely to widen the rift within the MahaYuti.

On the backdrop of Bhujbal’s aggressive stance on Monday, Shinde, while interacting with the media after unveiling a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Kupwada in J&K tour, clearly stated that the state government plans to grant Maratha quota without touching the OBC quota. He reiterated that the government has very clear views on OBC quota and Maratha community shall get quota without even touching the OBC quota.

On this backdrop, while Desai led a direct attack against Bhujbal, interestingly, state BJP Chief chandrashekhar Bawankule backed Bhujbal.

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