Explainer: How a violent agitation for Maratha reservations might end up helping BJP

More than a month into the agitation for reservations for the Marathas in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday announced that caste certificates will be provided to those who have documents to prove that they are Kunbis – a sub-caste within the community who are already classified as Other Backward Classes.

For the rest of the community, data will be collected to gauge their backwardness, Shinde said.

The decision came a day after the agitators on Monday torched the homes of at least four leaders across party lines, a municipality office and a bus in the state’s Marathwada region. A curfew was imposed in the Beed and Dharashiv districts. Two MPs of the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA resigned from their posts in support of the protesters.

The demand for a Maratha quota is contentious because of the community’s dominant status in Maharashtra. A similar quota has already been struck down by the Supreme Court in 2021. But the demand cannot be ignored by Maharashtrian politicians because the community’s numbers makes it electorally crucial.

Despite its dominant status, experts say, there is a significant socioeconomic variation within the Maratha community.

मुख्यमंत्री @mieknathshinde यांच्या अध्यक्षतेखाली आज राज्य मंत्रिमंडळाची बैठक मंत्रालयात पार पडली....

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