Ahead of the Zilla Parishad rural elections, the Congress on Monday announced an alliance with Prakash Shendge-led OBC Bahujan Aghadi for the upcoming elections. The Congress, in its bid to woo voters from other backward classes, is strategizing to forge alliances with OBC groups, and the alliance with the OBC Bahujan Aghadi is part of this broader effort. Before the Municipal Corporation elections, the party had joined hands with another community leader from Dhangar, Mahadev Jankar.
Both Shendge and Jankar previously aligned themselves with the BJP and have now decided to leave the saffron party, extending their support to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s demand for a caste census.
Congress’s outreach to OBCs comes as elections will be held in Zilla Parishad in constituencies including PuneSatara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Latur.
Among them, the rural areas of Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Pune and Parbhani have a sizeable Dhangar population. The Congress hopes that alliances with smaller parties, the OBC, will help it regain the lost political space in these regions.
“I welcome the OBC Bahujan Aghadi’s decision to work with the Congress. This alliance is not just for power but for the larger cause of social justice. After Rahul Gandhi’s persistent demand for a caste-based census, the Modi government was forced to take a decision, but the census has not taken place. The Congress upholds the principle of ‘population-based proportional representation’. This stand is receiving support from all sections of the society. “We will stress on ensuring a adequate representation of Dhangar and OBC communities,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Harshavardhan Sapkal.
The Congress move is also seen as an attempt to breach the BJP’s OBC vote bank. Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis he had recently said at a program organized by OBC organizations in Goa that he would continue to work for the welfare of OBCs, irrespective of the attacks on him. During the Maratha reservation agitation led by social activist Manoj Jarange-Patil seeking OBC status, Fadnavis was attacked by Maratha organisations.
Former Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday intensified the attack on the BJP-led central government over the demolition action of temples built by Rajmata Ahilyadevi Holkar in Varanasi. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath We have disrespected Hindus and dhangars by undertaking demolition drives,” Patole said.
Prakash Shendge said, “Efforts are being made to reduce OBC reservations and even the 27% quota is under threat. While government resolutions (GRs) are issued one after another, no community is really benefiting. To ensure justice for the OBC community, we formed an independent party and decided to ally ourselves with like-minded parties.” He added that his party thanked Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi for his stand on the caste census and believed that the OBC reservation issue would be resolved under his leadership.
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The Congress, which has decided to act alone and ally itself only with Maha Vikas Aghadi or related parties, has little at stake in these elections. In the 2017 Zilla Parishad polls, it won 10 of 61 seats in Sangli, 7 of 68 in Solapur, 7 of 64 in Satara, 6 of 54 in Parbhani and 7 of 75 in Pune. By bringing in the OBC parties and targeting a larger share of the Dhangar vote, the Congress hopes to improve its tally.
Sapkal further said, “In 2014, Devendra Fadnavis promised in Baramati that his first signature upon coming to power would be for Dhangar reservation, but that promise remains unfulfilled. Fadnavis has misled Dhangar, OBC, Maratha and tribal communities in the name of reservation. He has worked to incite caste infighting. These communities have now lost faith in the BJP and Fadnavis.”
