After the setback in the Lok Sabha elections, Mahayuti’s big bet, will this masterplan of Shinde government succeed?

The Mahayuti suffered a major setback in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 in the Marathwada region. Here the alliance of BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP managed to win only 1 seat out of 9. The party suffered heavy losses due to the defeat of big BJP leaders like Pankaja Munde and Raosaheb Danve. This situation has made the Shinde government cautious for the assembly elections. The government now does not want any mistake in the upcoming elections, especially when the Maratha reservation issue of Marathwada is hot.

Manoj Jarange Patil, leader of the Maratha reservation movement, has further fueled this issue. Manoj Jarange Patil has demanded reservation for the Maratha community on the basis of the Hyderabad Gazette. He has launched a strong movement demanding that the Maratha community be recorded as ‘Kunbi’. Patil says that in the 1881 British census, most of the Marathas of Marathwada were recorded as Kunbi, but this changed in subsequent censuses. His demand is that Kunbi certificates be issued to the Maratha community on the basis of 1881, so that they can get the benefit of reservation.

The Shinde government is now preparing to take decisive steps to resolve this issue. According to the report of ABP Majha, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is planning to implement the Hyderabad Gazette, which can provide the basis for reservation to the Maratha community. A delegation of the state government has already visited Telangana to study the gazette on this issue and now work has started towards implementing it.

There are speculations that a one-day session of the Assembly can be called between 25 and 30 September, in which important decisions will be taken on this issue. This decision can also prove to be important for the Shinde government from the electoral point of view because there are 46 assembly seats in Marathwada and last time Mahayuti had won 28 seats here. The issue of Maratha reservation can play a decisive role in the upcoming elections, that is why the Shinde government is taking every step very cautiously.