Lok Sabha elections 2024: ‘Marathas upset; will reflect in voting’

A banner of Maratha reservation leader Manoj Jarange in Kanteshwar village of Parbhani Constituency. Pics/Nimesh Dave

Voting for three regions in Marathwada - Nanded, Hingoli and Parbhani - will be held on April 26. In these three constituencies, Maratha voters are dominating and it is this Maratha vote bank that is upset due to the Maratha reservation issue in general, and also due to their losses in agriculture in the region.

Balaji Wankhede, an active member of the Maratha Kranti Morcha explains why Marathas of Marathwada are strongly demanding reservation.

Bhushan Deshmukh, division president of the Akhil Bhartiya Maratha Mahasangh youth wing, said that the youth of Hingoli mainly depend on government jobs as there no private jobs are available

"Most of the land here is dry. Yes, there is a canal, but not all land is irrigated. As time passes, the landholding of the Maratha family is reduced. One can say if one Maratha family held 10 acres of land 60-70 years ago, it's now reduced to 1-2 acres as the family is expanded. Now we are not getting enough income from agriculture. If the youth wants to study, the family has no money to pay for private colleges or institutes. If we get a reservation, our youth get admission in government colleges with a scholarship and they can also land a government job," he said.

According to Wankhade, there are no industries or development in the three constituencies and hence the demand for reservation is very high. "The Maratha community is very upset with the government and this will reflect in the voting… they are mainly upset with the BJP state leadership," he explained.

Balaji Wankhede, Maratha Kranti Morcha

A Maratha youth from Parbhani, Narayan Patil echoed this sentiment. "The Maratha community is very upset with the government. Maratha youth need affordable education which they are not getting now. In the current scenario, our farmer families can't manage to send the youth for higher education. Also in these three constituencies, there is no industrialisation so we hardly get jobs. There are cases where even those with post-graduate degrees are not getting jobs. For this reason, Marathas are demanding reservations," Patil told mid-day.

Bhushan Deshmukh, division president of the youth wing of Akhil Bhartiya Maratha Mahasangh said that the youth of Hingoli mainly depend on government jobs as there is no possibility of private jobs. "Also, the Maratha community is mainly known for agriculture, but now people don't want to depend on agriculture as there is no guaranteed income. So the demand for reservations is high in the region," Deshmukh added.

Percentage share

Constituency Maratha voters
Hingoli 25-27%
Nanded 25%
Parbhani 28%