Maharashtra: Silent Maratha stir turns violent

The Maratha quota agitation has snowballed into a stir that is heading towards a major political churn, setting tone for the 2019 Assembly polls. No party can now stake claim to the vote bank that is asserting itself in the streets of Maharashtra.

The fact that two legislators sent their resignations, a Shiv Sena activist committed suicide and Sena spoke of possible leadership change in the state, speaks how the agitation that started silently, will leave lasting imprint on the political future of each party. It is pertinent to see that the Sena legislator Harshwardhan Jadhav who resigned, is son-in-law of Bharatiya Janata Party's state president Raosaheb Danve.

He is joined in the cause by NCP's Bhausaheb Patil, who belongs to a party that had so far been seen as a Maratha party. And now Sena talks about change of leadership in the state, meaning a Brahmin Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will have to make way for a Maratha CM.

This is a repeat of the erstwhile Sena-BJP government in 1998, where Sena replaced a Brahmin, Manohar Joshi, with a Kunbi Maratha, Narayan Rane.

If one has to look for a more recent example, the BJP tried the same card in the neighbouring state of Gujarat where they replaced Anandiben Patel with Vijay Rupani in the wake of Patel quota stir.

Mumbai bandh is over, but the real battle lies ahead for the BJP. 

POLITICAL TAKEAWAY

The bandh in Mumbai is over, but the real battle lies ahead for CM Fadnavis and his political masters in Delhi.